


Still Recruiting

by saffronfields023



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Carrows Reign at Hogwarts, Character Death, Death Eaters, Dumbledore's Army, F/F, F/M, Gay Male Character, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Hogwarts during Deathly Hallows, Interrogation, M/M, Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter), Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Potterwatch, Rebellion, Room of Requirement, Second War with Voldemort, Silver Trio, Teenage Rebellion, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Torture, War, golden trio searching for horcruxes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:14:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 59,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27577034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saffronfields023/pseuds/saffronfields023
Summary: With the Golden Trio out looking for Horcruxes, the remaining members of Dumbledore's Army must pick up the pieces and defend Hogwarts. Lots of teenage rebellion, evil professors, and a headmaster who wants them all dead...or does he? Takes place during 7th year.
Relationships: Hannah Abbott/Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Ritchie Coote/Demelza Robins, Seamus Finnigan/Dean Thomas, Terry Boot/Sally-Anne Perks
Comments: 1
Kudos: 41





	1. Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> Published this on Fanfiction so I thought I'd bring it to AO3 too! Hope people still read stuff like this, I love Dumbledore's Army fics :) enjoy!

"I'll be fine, Mum," Ginny said, trying to make her voice sound soothing as she attempted to pry her hands out of her mother's strong vice grip.

Mrs. Weasley frowned as her daughter wiggled out of her grasp. "But everything is going to be different this year." She choked out, reaching for Ginny's long red hair. "With Dumbledore gone, I don't know what is going to happen. Maybe you should just stay home this year, it'll be safer."

"I'll be fine," Ginny repeated firmly. "And you know that I'll just escape out of my window in the night and run away if you force me to stay home."

Her mother slapped her on the arm. "Don't even joke about that, Ginny."

"Sorry." The tentative smile on Ginny's face vanished as fast as it had appeared. "But you know it's true."

"Your brothers really have been a bad influence on you," Mrs. Weasley muttered under her breath. "I suppose we can't keep you locked away, though."

"Right you are," Ginny responded wryly.

"Stay away from Snape, his loyalties have changed. Keep quiet and stay out of the way when you see him. I know that Dumbledore trusted him, but after his death and what happened to George-" Mrs. Weasley fell silent and looked down, hiding her face from her daughter.

Ginny reached forward and squeezed her hands reassuringly. "I'll be fine," she repeated a final time. "I promise. I won't have to look after Ron this year, that's a plus isn't it?"

"But who's going to keep you out of trouble?" Mrs. Weasley moaned into her sleeve.

"Neville," Ginny told her firmly. "And all of my other friends. I'll tell them that they have special orders from you to watch my behavior."  
Mrs. Weasley smiled weakly and wrapped Ginny into a warm embrace. A sudden knock on the door broke up the tender moment between the mother and daughter.

"Goodness, is it that time already?" Mrs. Weasley dried her eyes and wiped her hands on her apron before making her way over to the Burrow's door.

"Are they here?" Mr. Weasley appeared at Ginny's elbow, using his wand to levitate her trunk down the stairs. He set it down beside her with a flick of his wand before joining his wife at the door. "Now remember Molly, we still have to question them."

"But we're expecting them," Mrs. Weasley argued meekly, putting her hands on her hips as she looked up at him apprehensively. "Is it really necessary?"

"We have to keep Ginny safe, imagine if we sent her along with some strangers." Mr. Weasley defended himself.

"Oh that's enough, Arthur." Before her husband could object, Molly opened the door and ushered their guests in with a cheerful voice. Ginny craned her neck and was able to see Neville duck through the doorway after his well-dressed grandmother. A smile slipped onto her face and she waved at him. He returned the gesture before Mr. Weasley eagerly snatched his hand out of the air and shook it vigorously.

Turning away from the commotion in the kitchen, Ginny went in search of her brothers to say goodbye. "Bye Bill," Ginny called out, sticking her head out of the doorway into the porch where she found Bill and Fleur sitting. "I'm leaving soon."

Bill and Fleur immediately rose from the couch and made their way over to her. Her brother gave her a hug, squeezing her tightly. "Stay safe," he whispered into her ear. Ginny nodded mutely and tried to smile up at him when they parted. Fleur kissed her cheeks and murmured an "Au revoir". The scent of her honeysuckle perfume lingered in the air as she drew back. Ginny gave them a wave before trudging back into the living room.

"You weren't going to leave without saying goodbye to us, were you?" Ginny couldn't help but grin as she turned to see the twins standing on the landing of the staircase, looking down at her with raised eyebrows. They were dressed in their iconic dragonskin jackets and George was sporting a fresh bandage around his head.

"Never," she assured them as they walked down the stairs to join her in the living room.

"First time we've had guests since the wedding," Fred noted, nodding towards where Neville and his grandmother stood with their parents. "Excluding our Death Eater interrogators, of course." He looked down at Ginny and his eyes softened. "We're gonna miss you around here."

"Stay safe, squirt." George ruffled her hair and kissed her cheek. "And do what you have to do."

"Dumbledore's Army is as much our legacy as it is Harry's and you know how we are about our Weasley Twins Legacy," Fred added as he hugged her. "Keep the DA strong."

"Now, more than ever, Hogwarts needs it," the twins finished in unison, tugging at her ears gently.

Ginny batted their hands away and smiled. "Thanks. Can I rely on you two to supply us with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?"

"Is that even a question?" They scoffed.

"Ginny?" Mrs. Weasley called from the doorway. "It's time to go, darling." Fred and George squished her into one final bear hug before gently pushing her forward.

"See you at Christmas!" Fred called as she looked over her shoulder at them one last time. They stood next to the staircase, hands in their pockets, and looked at her with uncharacteristically serious faces. That is, until George winked and Fred went cross-eyed, sticking out his tongue. She snorted.

Ginny hugged her parents one last time, promising that she would be precautions, stay out of trouble, and send them letters. ("They'll be searching the Hogwarts mail, so don't put anything too personal in your letters." Mrs. Weasley warned.) She kissed them both, trying to ignore the worried looks on their tear-streaked faces. With one last goodbye, she hauled her trunk out the door and followed the Longbottoms down the cobblestone path.

"Have a good summer?" Neville asked as the trio passed through the picket fence gate and out into the vast meadow that surrounded the Burrow.

"Pretty good," Ginny lied through her teeth as images of the destroyed wedding venue and the gaping hole on the side of George's head flashed through her mind. She tried not to gag. "My brother got married but the wedding was crashed by Death Eaters."

Neville nodded solemnly as he stared ahead at the cloudy sky. "Luna told me about it in a letter. How's Ron doing? Your parents mentioned that he was sick."

"Yeah, Spattergroit. He looks disgusting."

"I imagine so," Neville smirked, though Ginny could see the flicker of doubt in his eyes. He didn't believe her. "Is it bad?"

"He'll recover."

"And Harry? Hermione?" He pushed, clearly eager for answers. Ginny gave a small shake of her head, promising with her eyes that she'd tell him later. He gave her a nod in response.

Augusta Longbottom stopped the pair by holding up one gloved hand. "It's time. Neville? Would you care to apparate us?" She asked in her feeble yet autocratic voice.

Neville suddenly looked nervous as he played with the sleeve of his jumper. "Really? I haven't had much practice. Maybe you should-"

His grandmother rolled her eyes and huffed. "For goodness sake, I'm too old for that. You're doing it. Now, Ginny dear, make sure you have your trunk held tightly-good, good. You too, Neville."

Ginny clutched her trunk with one hand and Neville's hand with the other. Mrs. Longbottom held tight to both of their shoulders. In an instant, the sprawling meadows were gone and they were in front of the station.

"Not bad, Neville." Ginny leaned dizzily on her trunk, clutching at her pounding head. "We're all here in one piece, aren't we?"

"Yeah. I guess we are," Neville said, looking pleased with himself.

"Quickly, now. Let's get through the gateway." Augusta Longbottom adjusted her hat before leading the way into the train station.

When they had made it through the barrier and onto Platform 9 and 3/4, Ginny looked around with an oddly heavy heart. The crowds of students and parents were significantly smaller than the previous year. There were no excited younger students running around the platform, no chatty older students cracking jokes with one another, no hustle and bustle. Instead, parents had solemn looks on their faces as they hugged their children tightly to their sides. Groups of friends huddled close together, speaking in hushed murmurs or saying nothing at all.

Ministry officers were scattered all over the platform, keeping a watchful eye on the passersby. Ginny watched with anger as families bowed their heads and quickly walked past the government workers. One approached her and Neville and asked for their papers in a rough voice. Neville's hand immediately dove into his pocket as Ginny rummaged through her small purse. The passed them over to the officer, who scanned them, first with his eyes and then with his wand. He nodded in approval, stamping the papers and returning them back.

"This is terrible!" Ginny hissed to Neville as the Ministry officer turned his attention to a group of trembling third-years. She stuffed her papers back into her bag and dragged Neville alongside her. "Everyone is scared to death."

"I know," Neville sighed as he looked around with sad eyes. His mouth was pressed tightly into a straight line.

"Neville!" Augusta Longbottom called to him from up ahead, waving her hand up in the air.

Neville sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I'd better say goodbye to her. See you in a bit?"

Ginny, having no family members to say goodbye to, nodded as she tried not to look too sad. "Go on, I'll get us a compartment. Find me when you're done saying goodbye?"

"I'll take the trunks," Neville said in response, patting her shoulder before he dragged both their trunks over to his grandmother.

Ginny suddenly felt lonely standing there on the platform, holding nothing more than her small bag and her cardigan. For the past fifteen years of her life, she had always been brought along to Platform 9 and 3/4, even when she wasn't the one boarding the Hogwarts Express. It had always been an unofficial goal of the Weasley family to crowd the platform with as many gingers as possible. But now there was no one to see her off. No Percy to boss everyone around, No Ron to ask stupid questions that everyone knew the answers to, no Fred and George to set something on fire. It was just her. Ginny let the strange feeling linger for a little while longer before shaking her head and boarding the train.

To her relief, she saw some familiar faces in the thin corridors of the train. Her ex-boyfriend, Michael Corner, stood not ten feet away, chatting with some other Ravenclaws. His dark hair looked lighter from sun exposure and the brown skin he inherited from his Indian mother was an entire shade darker from when she had last seen him. She recognized his two best friends, the dirty blonde, blue-eyed Terry Boot, and the dark hair, dark-eyed Anthony Goldstein. Both of them were equally sunkissed and golden. Ginny remembered them as being fairly kind during her and Michael's little fling.

Michael caught her eye and smiled slightly. He whispered something to his friends, who nodded and broke away from their little knot. They walked past Ginny down the corridor, both giving her polite smiles as they passed her.

"Ginny," Michael greeted her as he ambled over to her, hands shoved in his pockets. "How are you?"

"Surviving," Ginny shrugged, hiding her obvious distaste for the question. "How about you? Have a decent summer?"

Michael mimicked the gesture. "It was okay. Um-" he found a sudden interest in the ground as he kicked his feet. "Terry's mum was taken in July and we don't know where she is. Or if she's alive, even."

Ginny was genuinely shocked by that piece of information. "That's terrible. I'm sorry." She suddenly remembered that Terry had a muggleborn mother and winced as she thought about the potential fate of Mrs. Boot. She had never been close to Terry or anything but it still hurt her heart to hear that a member of the DA had to suffer something as awful as losing a parent.

"Yeah. It was a rough summer if I'm being completely honest, forget that earlier bullshit I said about it being okay," Michael laughed hollowly. "Terry and his father have been blacklisted for attempting to hide Mrs. Boot from the Ministry so we took him and Tony to Italy with us over the holiday. I guess it was a sort of break from the Hell that exists here."

Ginny nodded. "I was wondering where the tan came from," she said dumbly, not quite sure what she should be saying.

Michael looked down at his arm sheepishly, running a light hand over the skin. "I didn't even notice." He looked out the window and his tentative smile dropped. "It's going to be a long year."

Ginny nodded again. "It is." The two stood in serious yet comfortable silence, gazing out the window at the bleary weather and sad families until Michael cleared his throat.

"I should probably go find Tony and Terry." He mumbled, turning away from the window.

Ginny smiled and nodded her head towards the hallway that the two boys had disappeared down earlier. "Go ahead, I should go find my friends anyway. See you around."

The two parted ways and went off in opposite directions. As Ginny searched for more familiar faces, she couldn't help but remember how good Michael had been to her when they were together. Dean, too. They were both wonderful and Ginny suddenly felt regretful for treating them so coldly after the breakups. As she thought about her failed love life, her thoughts suddenly drifted to Harry. She was mad for him and he broke up with her. She gave him her heart and he dumped her, claiming it was for her own good. She snorted aloud at that thought. As she trudged down the corridor in her sudden foul mood, a compartment door opened up and someone grabbed her hand, dragging her inside. Ginny thrashed in the grip, getting ready to scream. She looked up furiously at her captor, only to have the anger melt off her face.

Parvati and Lavender were standing in front of her with open arms. Relieved that they weren't Death Eaters trying to kidnap her, Ginny flew into their arms, allowing herself to be wrapped up in a tight embrace. She was then released and guided her over to the seats where they sat down on either side of her.

"How've you been?" Parvati asked earnestly, clasping Ginny's cold hands with her warm ones.

Ginny sighed, getting used to the dread that swept her body every time she heard the question. "Doing only okay, to be honest."

"Aren't we all," Parvati sighed, leaning back. "It really is a stupid question to ask, isn't it?" Ginny looked surprised yet couldn't help but agree.

"How's your family doing?" Lavender asked Ginny as she scooted closer.

"We've been managing. Ron has spattergroit."

Lavender's blue eyes widened in alarm and she recoiled slightly. "Really? How awful. I suppose that means he isn't coming back this year, then?"

"No, he's staying home." Ginny searched Lavender's face for any signs of the other girl still having feelings for her dopey brother.

Lavender noticed this and chuckled slightly. "Oh, honey, don't worry, I'm over your brother." She shot a sultry look over her shoulder to a dark-skinned Hufflepuff who had just passed by the compartment with his friends. "I've got my eyes on someone better. I heard his accent on the platform and it was love at first sight."

Ginny laughed, for the first time all day. It felt good. "Good. I'm glad to see that this war hasn't changed you, Lavender."

"Oh, it'll take more than a war to stop this one's antics," Parvati chuckled before her face settled into a frown. "This is going to be a tough year with Snape as headmaster. Did you see the platform? Practically half the school is gone."

Lavender nodded, causing her pale brown curls to bounce around her face. "It's going to be lonely in our dorm room, Vati." She then turned to Ginny and gave her a pleading look. "Stay in our room whenever you want. Please. It'll be so empty without Hermione." She looked down at her hands and twisted the rings on her right hand. "I hate to have left things so rocky with her last year. I wish I could've apologized for being so...stupid. She and your brother are destined to be, you know?"

"They really are," Ginny let out a small laugh. "Now it's up to them to figure it out, everyone else has."

Lavender frowned down at her hands, ignoring Ginny's joke. "And now Hermione is on the run, probably fighting for her life. I know I treated her terribly last year but I'm going to miss her lots. Honestly. Especially because Fay and Deka's parents pulled them out of school the year before last, it was only the three of us." She turned to Parvati with wide, sad eyes. "And now it's just the two of us."

"It'll also be weird without Dean-" Parvati began to say, then stopped suddenly. She looked at Ginny sheepishly and her mouth snapped shut.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I don't remember there being a Taboo on Dean's name, you can talk about him, Parvati. There's no need for my permission. He's a great guy and we're on okay terms, cross my heart. Now, what about him?"

"He's not coming back this year, "Parvati said sadly.

"What?" Ginny sat up quickly and stared at the older witch. "What do you mean?"

"He can't prove that he's a half-blood. His dad left when he was a baby and his muggle mum got remarried to another muggle. So the ministry thinks he's a muggleborn and has deemed him an undesirable."

Ginny looked ahead, dumbfounded. She felt terrible that for the whole time she was Dean's girlfriend, she had never heard about his family. Then again, she had never really asked.

"I'm sorry, Ginny," Parvati said, putting a gentle hand on her arm. "Have I upset you?"

"Of course not," Ginny mumbled quietly as the train jerked and began to slowly pull away from the station. Both Parvati and Lavender leaned towards the window to wave at their parents as the train passed by them. Ginny arched her neck, looking out the window for a red-headed clan, before remembering that they were locked away in the Burrow. She leaned back, embarrassed.

"I'm going to miss Dean," Parvati said in a hushed voice once Platform 9 and 3/4 was out of sight. Lavender nodded.

Ginny nudged Parvati. "Seems like you two were close, yeah?"

"I think you're mistaking me for Seamus," Parvati chuckled, a wry smile on her face.

The girls spent the next hour chatting and catching up before Ginny realized something. "Damn!" She jumped to her feet and hastily picked up her belongings. "I was supposed to find Neville and Luna ages ago!"

Lavender smiled kindly and Ginny couldn't help but think that it suited her far better than the pouty-lip expression the seventh year had been so fond of the previous year. "Go! Don't let us hold you back."

"Go find them," Parvati urged, shooing Ginny over to the door. "Padma should be coming in soon, anyway."

"I'll see you two at the feast," Ginny promised as she shot them a grateful look from the doorway. She quietly shut the door behind her and trudged down the hall, cursing herself for letting so much time slip by. She searched compartment after compartment, peeking in through the windows for any signs of a tall brunette and a petite blonde. Turning away from a compartment full of younger Gryffindors, she suddenly found herself face to face with a shock of blonde hair and a sour expression. She stumbled in surprise, knocking her shoulder into his.

"Watch it, Weaslette," Malfoy spat, looking down his nose to give her a cold glare. He dusted off the shoulder she had hit with a flick of his hand. Ginny scowled at him and opened her mouth to retort but remembered her mother's warnings. She snapped her mouth shut and pushed past the Slytherin, continuing her trek down the corridor. "No Potter with you?" Malfoy asked over his shoulder in a

Ginny felt her willpower wilting as a "Go to hell!" slipped from her lips before she could stop it. She could hear him chuckling.

Ten minutes later, Ginny finally entered the correct compartment, looking slightly frazzled. "There you are!" Neville jumped to his feet, nearly tossing the magical plant that was settled on his lap. "You had me thinking that you were captured."

Luna smiled serenely from the seat across from Neville. "I told him that you either had a nasty encounter with a Snabberwitch or were with other friends. Hello, Ginny, lovely to see you."

Ginny smiled guiltily as she plopped down next to Luna, wrapping the blonde witch up in a quick side hug. "I was with Parvati and Lavender-oh, sit down, Neville-sorry I wasn't here sooner."

"How are they doing?" Luna asked, flipping through an upside-down copy of The Quibbler. "I talked with Padma briefly. She claimed to be fine but was giving off a very unsure type of energy."

"Same as the rest of us, I suppose," Ginny said with a shrug.

Luna nodded and a small frown graced her pale features. "We're in a rather unfortunate situation, aren't we?"

"School isn't going to be much better, what with Snape as headmaster," Ginny sighed, kicking her heels against the wooden bench.

"That's for sure," Neville said, making a face as he thought about the mean, hook-nosed professor. "Snape is cruel and cold, he won't hesitate to strike at us. I want you both to stay out of trouble, got it?" Neville said, leaning forward and looking each of them in the eyes.

"Way to kill the mood, Nev." Ginny rolled her eyes slightly. His statement had reminded her of her mother's speech earlier that morning. "Luna and I will be fine, won't we Luna?"

"Naturally," Luna hummed as she studied a particularly colorful illustration in her father's publication.

"I'm serious. Do you promise?" Neville did indeed look serious as his eyes met Ginny's.

"Sure, Nev. Now let's stop talking about this, it's depressing."

Luna curled herself up in the corner of the compartment, clutching her magazine. Ginny leaned back on the cushioned seat, dropping her small bag onto the empty spot beside her. She rested her chin in the cup of her hand and let the gentle rumble of the train lull her to sleep.

It was the screeching of brakes that suddenly woke her up from her peaceful slumber. The Hogwarts Express came to a clamoring stop on the tracks, sending Ginny sprawling onto the seat. She crashed into Luna and the two of them toppled to the ground. Throughout the halls, confused cries of terror could be heard. The lights flickered ominously, adding to the clamor and confusion. Neville leaped to his feet and whipped his wand out of his sleeve. As he started towards the door, one of Ginny's hands shot forward and latched itself onto his ankle.

"Neville," she gasped, "wait." She used the hem of his robes and then his arm to pull herself up into a standing position. "Okay, let's go. We'll be back soon, Luna," Ginny whispered, pulling her wand from her pocket. Luna groaned and rubbed the back of her head where it had slammed into the wall when Ginny fell on her.

As they crept into the hallway, they could see other heads poking out of compartment doors and looking around. Ginny jerked her head to the left and Neville nodded, following her down another corridor.

"Ginny!" Demelza Robins, one of Ginny's close friends, hissed from her compartment door and grabbed Ginny's hand as she passed by. Her curtain of dark hair swung around her face as she tugged at Ginny's arm. "Ginny, what's going on?"

"I don't know." Ginny squeezed Demelza's hand and sent a reassuring look towards Ritchie Coote and Andrew Kirke who were also standing in the compartment doorway. "Just stay here." She shut the door on them, despite their chorus of protests.

Neville had just shoved several Ravenclaw second years into a compartment and was shutting the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder. With a yell, he spun around and swung his arm into two torsos, sending them toppling to the ground.

"Shit, Neville! Watch where you're swinging!" An angry Irish voice shouted up at him from the floor. Seamus. "We ain't your enemy."

"Bloody hell, that hurt," another voice groaned, this one higher and full of annoyance. "Seamus, next time you decide to run through the dark to be a hero, leave me out of it. I was perfectly fine in my safe, dark compartment before you came along." Susan Bones.

"Is everyone alright here?" An out-of-breath voice joined the clump of people in the hallway. Michael Corner.

"Lumos." Padma Patil's wand lit up from her spot beside Michael and a soft blue light danced off the compartment door windows. Neville could clearly see several scared faces pressed against the glass, peering out at them.

"Anyone have any bloody idea what's going on?" Seamus asked after being helped off the ground by Padma and Susan. "Because I'd like it very much if we could get going. The Great Hall has a piping hot meal with my name on it."

The train gave another jolt from where it sat, sending everyone to the floor once again.

"Bloody hell!"

"What's goin' on here?!"

"Lumos." A dark and grating voice in the distance murmured.

Ginny, from atop the pile, sat up suddenly, ears alert. "Who said that?"

"Who's that down there?" Michael hissed and pointed towards the end of the hall where there was a distant light slowly approaching. Everyone craned their necks to see.

The owner of the voice gave a low chuckle as the light bobbed closer. From behind it, several other wands lit up with the same spell. Ginny began to feel uneasy as she made out six figures drawing nearer and nearer.

"Who are they?" Susan whispered furiously, fumbling for her wand on the ground.

"Those sure aren't students," Seamus whispered back as he struggled to stand up. The tangle of limbs prevented him from progressing and he fell back to the floor once more.

In what seemed like mere seconds, the man was suddenly in front of them, peering down at the pile of students. The light from his wand basked his scarred face in a pale blue glow. "We mean no trouble, we simply come looking for a couple of friends of yours." Ginny felt a chill run down her spine once she realized she was looking into the face of Rabastan Lestrange. "None will be hurt if everyone just cooperates."

"What do you mean, 'looking for our friends?'" Ginny asked suspiciously. There was no fear present in her voice, only anger.

Lestrange glared down at her and poked her in the side with the pointed toe of his boot, causing her to wince. "I think you know who we're referring to. Does the name 'Potter' ring any bells?"

"Never heard of him," Seamus said, shrugging one shoulder. This resulted in the pointed boot making contact with his side, causing him to hiss out in pain.

Rabastan clicked his tongue and stepped away from Seamus. "No complying here, I see. What a pity." He turned to his fellow Death Eaters and tossed his head to the side. "Search the train." They nodded and half of them disapparated while the other three stepped over the sixth and seventh years, gliding down the corridor. Shrieks rang out against the walls as the Death Eaters threw compartment doors open.

Ginny leaped to her feet. "What are you doing?"

"It seems as if some Mudbloods were able to slip past Ministry security, the Dark Lord sent us to take care of it," Rabastan said with an ugly grin as he disapparated on the spot.

Ginny let his words sink in and her eyes widened. "We have to stop them!" She shouted as she began pulling her friends up by their elbows. "Let's go!"

Neville and Padma sprinted after a Death Eater that was dragging a screaming fourth year Hufflepuff out of her compartment. Seamus grabbed Susan's elbow and the two of them ran in the opposite direction towards two Death Eaters that were searching a compartment belonging to some small Gryffindor students. To no surprise, the Slytherins' doors remained unopened and untouched.

The previous silence of the train was replaced with complete chaos. Ginny and Michael ran off in opposite directions, yelling at the younger students to get back in their seats. Ginny slammed compartment doors shut with her wands as she ran through the hallway, ignoring the questioning pleas of the younger students.

"This is inhumane!" Ginny shouted to no one in particular as she shooed a sobbing little boy into a train compartment.

"Protego!" A high-pitched voice shrieked from behind her, causing her to spin around. Sally-Anne Perks, a seventh-year Hufflepuff with her wand outstretched, had cast a protection spell on a compartment stuffed to the brim with younger Hufflepuffs. The spell was so strong that the Death Eater attempting to enter the compartment was flung backward with such force that she was knocked out cold. Sally-Anne tossed her blonde curls with a huff as she looked down at the unconscious woman. Her eyes found Ginny's and she gave her a curt nod before letting the spell drop. She entered the compartment where she was surrounded by crying children. Turning away from the Hufflepuffs, Ginny noticed the silky black hem of the Death Eater robes disappear into a compartment and the fire inside of her was suddenly rekindled.

"No!" She screamed as the Death Eater pulled a tiny second year Gryffindor into the hall. She charged at the pair but the Death Eater merely laughed and grabbed the child's shoulder and they disapparated in a shot of black smoke. She halted with a gasp, arm still reaching for the now-gone child's hand. She moaned and sank to her knees, horrified at what had happened.

"Ginny!" Luna was suddenly at her side, grabbing for her hand as she desperately tried to pull her up. There were tears in her sky blue eyes. "Ginny! They're taking the muggleborns that managed to get through Ministry security. They're taking children, Ginny!"

"I know, Luna, I know," Ginny murmured, biting back a sob as she allowed Luna to help her off the ground.

Not far down the hall, Rabastan Lestrange reappeared with a crack. He grabbed a Death Eater by the cloak and shook him. "Have you found him yet?" He hissed into the man's face. "Have you found the Potter boy?"

"No," The man hissed back, clearly displeased.

"Hey losers!" Neville rounded a corner, coming to a stop before the pair. His hair was tousled and there was a wild look in his usually nervous eyes. "He's not here."

Rabastan growled and punched Neville in the jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground. Ginny shrieked and shot a stunner at him but it was deflected with ease.

"Let's go!" Lestrange shouted as he looked around wildly. "He's not here and we have what we came for." He disapparated on the spot with a loud crack. The remaining Death Eaters followed suit until the train was silent except for the feeble sobs coming from the younger students.

Luna and Ginny staggered over to Neville, propping him upright. He groaned and managed to choke out an "I'm fine" as his hand immediately reached for his jaw. Compartment doors began to open slowly as teary faces once again poked out into the hall.

"What was that?" A fourth-year Hufflepuff sobbed.

"Why did they come?" A fifth-year Ravenclaw stuttered.

"I couldn't save them," Neville muttered under his breath. "I couldn't save those kids they took."

"None of us could, Neville," Ginny said softly, holding back her own tears. "None of us."

Luna was in the process of fixing Neville's swollen jaw when Padma and Seamus came back, this time bringing Parvati and Lavender with them. The seventh-year Gryffindor girls looked relieved as their eyes landed on Ginny. Parvati let out a breath and Lavender's hand flew to her chest. Everyone looked visibly shaken but there were only minor injuries present, much to Ginny's relief.

"Let's get you sitting down, Neville," Luna said soothingly, turning their attention to Neville. With Seamus's help, Neville was hoisted up and into a vacant compartment. The others trailed in behind them, clearly not wanting to be left alone.

As Ginny was about to join them, she heard the sound of quick footsteps running down the hall. She turned just in time to see Michael Corner breeze past her. "Michael? What's going on?" She shouted, instinctively chasing after him.

"I've gotta find Terry!" He shouted over his shoulder and Ginny was able to see the panic in his eyes. She cursed under her breath as she began to understand the situation and tore after the Ravenclaw.

They rounded the corner and Michael threw open a compartment door, stumbling inside. Ginny followed him inside and saw Anthony Goldstein standing alone in the center of the small room, nursing his now-forming black eye. She immediately rushed over to him, wand brandished and ready to heal his wound. "Anthony! Are you alright?"

Michael let out a choked sound as he looked around the compartment. Some Exploding Snap cards were scattered across the seat, indicating that a game had been taking place before the train was invaded. "Terry? They took him?"

Anthony let out an unexpected laugh that startled the other two. "You didn't think I'd let them take him, did you? Come on, Mikey, give me some credit here." After assuring Ginny that he was fine, Anthony pulled at the ground in front of the window. To Ginny's surprise, he lifted an invisibility cloak off the stunned body of Terry Boot."Our mate here wouldn't cooperate when I told him to hide so I had to stun him. The man that searched our compartment barely took a look inside when he saw it was only me in here."

Michael gasped in relief and he exhaled all the stress he was holding onto in one long breath. He clapped Anthony's shoulder with a shaky laugh. "Tony, you brilliant bastard." He waved his wand at Terry, "Rennervate!"

Immediately, Terry's eyes flew open and he looked around wildly. He scrambled to his feet, wand outstretched and at the ready. "Where'd they go?"

Michael laughed and gave him a one-armed hug. "Steady, mate. They're gone."

Terry visibly relaxed. "Oh. That's good, I guess." He then turned to Anthony and punched him in the arm. "Bloody hell, mate, next time let me fight too!"

"What, I don't get a thank you?" The bespectacled Ravenclaw asked indignantly, turning his nose up in the air. "Fine, then. Next time I'll let them take you, have it your way."

Terry laughed good-naturedly. "Thank you, you saved my arse." He threw an arm over Anthony's shoulder and looked at him, suddenly taking interest in the bruise growing on his friend's face. "What happened to your eye?"

Anthony suddenly went red and he looked away. "I went outside Malfoy's compartment and started, uh, yelling at the Slytherins. His goons punched me to shut me up."

Ginny laughed in surprise, causing the three Ravenclaws to turn their attention to her. "Was it worth it?" She asked Anthony eagerly.

"Absolutely."

Ginny smiled at his answer then leaned down to picked up the discarded cloak from the floor. She studied the shimmering fabric with wonder. "Where'd you get this?"

"It's Tony's," Michael replied as he rubbed Terry's dirty blonde hair with his knuckles.

"It was my grandfather's, he gave it to me," Anthony added, accepting the bundle of fabric from Ginny. "It's done the three of us a good many favors."

Ginny nodded, remembering that The Goldsteins were a powerful family in the Jewish wizarding community. She made to leave but had second thoughts as she turned back to the three boys. "Do the three of you want to come back to our compartment? If you want company?"

"The three of them looked at each other then back at her, nodding and smiling. "Definitely."

She smiled back and held the door for them as they gathered their possessions and filed out into the hall.

When they had made it back to the compartment, they found a large group squashed onto the seats and on the floor. Susan Bones, Demelza Robins, Romilda Vane, Neville, Luna, Padma, Parvati, Lavender, Seamus, Ritchie Coote, and Andrew Kirke. They slipped through the door and squeezed onto the last vacant spot on the floor. The fifteen of them sat in silence, all of them shaken up but grateful for the company. Ginny looked out the window, gazing at the bleak gray sky. Michael was right, it was going to be a long year.


	2. Return

"This is wrong," Lavender whispered to no one in particular as she eyed the spot that the new Headmaster had taken in the Great Hall that evening. She and the older Gryffindors watched with distaste as Snape stood in the place they were so used to seeing Dumbledore in.

"He can't just replace him," Neville muttered under his breath, having the same line of thought as Lavender. "No one can replace Dumbledore."

Ginny, having opted for silence as her mother had suggested, kept her mouth shut despite the fact that Snape was making her blood boil. Instead of looking at the traitorous man, she focused her attention on her surroundings. The Great Hall felt unusually foreign to her, not warm and homelike the way it usually felt. As was the case at King's Cross, the significantly smaller student body was solemn and unsmiling. Ginny noticed several of the younger kids trembling in their seats, still shaken up from the events that transpired on the train. She couldn't blame them for feeling scared. The small fires that usually burned in copper dishes hanging from the walls were so dim that they were practically nonexistent. The magnificent ceiling was stormy, thunder rumbled and dark clouds twisted overhead. And she couldn't help but feel as if the levitating candles were sharper on the bottom. She looked at one directly above her, poised as if ready to stab her hand. She quickly took her hand off the table and settled it on her lap.

"...Quidditch and other extracurriculars are suspended for the year so that students will be able to focus their attention on their studies," Snape was saying, only to be drowned out by the cries of protest that rose from the students. Several students leaped to their feet while others shouted profanities at the Headmaster, who looked unimpressed with the display of anger.

"No Quidditch? How dare he!" Ginny hissed, her silent pact suddenly broken. She threw her legs over the bench and made a move to stand up. Parvati and Neville quickly latched onto her arms, preventing her from moving.

"Silence!" The male Carrow screeched as he stood up at the staff table, his height rather unimpressive. His wand was out in an instant and he thrust it up into the air. A bouquet of ominous red flames spouted from it like a volcano, causing the Great Hall to fall silent. Jimmy Peakes, who was in the process of climbing up onto the Gryffindor table, gulped and slowly slid back into his seat.

"Thank you, Professor Carrow," Snape said with a small nod as the new professor put his wand away and sat down, satisfied. "No more interruptions, we don't want to give out detention on the first night, do we? Now, students will walk to all meals with their house in an orderly formation. Tardiness will result in fifteen house points being taken away as well as detention. Any brooms found will be confiscated by Mister Filch. Curfew is now moved to ten o'clock… "

"When he said 'new rules', I didn't expect him to go on for twenty minutes," Seamus muttered angrily as Snape continued to drone on with the new regulations.

"Look at them," Parvati whispered as she stole a glance at the Carrows. "They look so… evil."

Ginny observed the new teachers. Both were pasty-skinned, mean-looking people. The brother was tall with a nose not unlike Snape's while his sister was short and squat. She noticed, with disgust, that their beady, dark eyes glinted with malice in the dim candlelight.

The hall was silent as everyone listened to Snape. The sorting had been quick and depressing, with over half of the first years becoming Slytherins. Ginny felt her heart sink when "Brinkley, Jane" was called and nobody stepped forward. She must have been taken in the train raid. Ginny glanced at a couple of new Gryffindor students, all of whom were shivering timidly several seats down from her. One of them looked so similar to Colin Creevy that it hurt even looking at him. She closed her eyes and prayed silently that the Creeveys were safe somewhere, away from danger.

She then looked towards the front table where the professors sat. Snape stood in front of a seat grand enough to be a throne, the menacing Carrows flanking either side. Ginny noticed a few professors missing from the staff table, including the kind Professor Burbage. Trelawney looked close to tears as she clutched her shawl tightly around her shoulders. McGonagall was tight-lipped and silent as she shared a glance with Professor Sprout, whose eyes were full of sorrow. Flitwick fidgeted beside Hagrid, who was shaking with anger. Slughorn looked uncomfortable as he attempted to listen to the Headmaster's speech.

From beside Lavender, Neville let out a long sigh as he drifted into a daze. He propped up his chin with his hand, promptly putting his elbow in the butter dish that had suddenly appeared to his right. He flinched, not realizing that dinner had begun.

Ginny snorted into her mashed potatoes. "Smooth, Longbottom," she chortled. Neville scowled and loaded his plate up with green beans, ignoring his chuckling friends. It was good to hear them laughing again, though, and he made no attempt to stop them.

"At least the food hasn't changed," Seamus sighed in content as he poured chicken stew into a bowl. He snagged a dinner roll from the basket to his left and gave it a kiss before shoving it promptly in his mouth.

"Is that really all you're thinking about right now?" Parvati scoffed as she flicked his ear, ignoring his grumble of protest. She looked down at her own plate and made a face, pushing it away from herself. "My stomach is too upset to eat."

Lavender swiped her friend's plate and dumped some food onto it. "Eat," she encouraged, pushing the plate back towards Parvati. "Starving won't do you any good." After a couple of moments, Parvati gave up and picked up some soup with her spoon.

Dinner was dismissed and the Gryffindors followed McGonagall up to the Common Room in a neat line. Parvati and Neville, the seventh year prefects for the year, lingered behind to introduce themselves to the first years. There were five eleven-year-olds in total and they stared up at the older students with solemn eyes. But after Neville made a dramatic display of eagerly shaking all their hands, their fearful expressions dropped and they allowed themselves to giggle.

"I know it's scary being away from your parents right now, but Hogwarts is going to become like your second home," Parvati assured the first-years as she and Neville guided them up one of the moving staircases.

"Do you promise?" One little boy asked her hopefully as he tripped up the stairs to keep up with the group.

Parvati smiled down at him. "I'll do my very best to make it feel like home to you," she promised, causing him to beam up at her.

There was a tugging at Neville's sleeve and he stopped and looked down to see a girl with tan skin and curly black hair staring up at him. Her name was Amna, he remembered."Where is Harry Potter?" She asked, looking at him with big eyes. "I've always wanted to meet him but Mummy said he wouldn't be here this year."

Neville felt his breath catch at the question, for even he didn't know the answer. "Your Mum is right," he said, choosing his words carefully. "Harry isn't here right now but when he comes back, I'll make sure to introduce you two."

The answer seemed to satisfy the girl. She let go of Neville's sleeve and slid her hand into his. He looked down in surprise but made no move to stop her. He instead gave her hand a squeeze and tugged her along to catch up with the rest of the group at the top of the stairs.

Parvati had just finished introducing the first-years to the Fat Lady. The portrait hole swung open and she ushered them inside. She looked over her shoulder as they were crawling through and smiled at the sight of Neville holding the hand of the little girl.

"Well that was a depressing dinner, wasn't it?" Ginny's voice greeted Neville from her position stretched out on of the Common Room's couches as he entered through the portrait hole. Neville gently pushed Amna towards the staircase and she obediently trotted up to Parvati, who took her hand and guided her up to the first-year girls' dormitory.

"Yeah, it was pretty awful," Neville agreed as he made his way over towards her after giving Parvati a grateful wave. He collapsed into an armchair, groaning with pleasure as he sank back into the cushioned seat. He allowed himself to shut his eyes as he took in the cozy atmosphere of the Common Room. Snape may have managed to turn the Great Hall cold, but that coldness would never be able to penetrate the Gryffindor Common Room's warmth.

"So when are we holding our first meeting of the year?" Ginny asked suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence that Neville had begun to grow used to.

"What? What meeting?" Neville cracked one eye open as he sat up and looked at her. He had a feeling that he knew exactly what it was, but he had hoped that it wasn't the case."Keep her out of trouble. Please." That was what Mrs. Weasley had asked him to do earlier that morning, which felt like ages ago. At the time he had simply nodded, dumbfounded, and slightly shocked by her plea. But after the incident on the train, he was adamant about keeping that promise.

"Don't play dumb, Neville," Ginny said with a roll of her eyes, tossing a golden pillow at him. "Dumbledore's Army? Ring any bells? When are we going to have our first meeting?"

Neville winced as his plan backfired. "Maybe we should wait for a bit," he said, choosing his words carefully.

"Wait?" Ginny's eyebrows furrowed. She sat up and leaned in his direction with a suspicious look on her freckled face."Wait for what?"

"Wait until things even out?" Neville said unsurely, though it sounded more like a question than an answer. "Those Carrows seem unpredictable and ready to lash out at any inconvenience, we should hang back and try not to provoke them."

"Nev, listen. This school is going to hell and it'll only get worse if we don't do something about it," Ginny said, her eyes big and pleading. "Our world is falling apart and we need to fix it. Or at least try to."

"I don't think so, Gin. It's just too dangerous," Neville's eyes fell to the carpet on the ground. He traced its elaborate patterns with the toe of his shoe.

"Why would you say that? The whole Wizarding World is dangerous right now." Ginny threw up her arms, frustration growing in her voice. "Hogwarts is safe compared to what's out there! We're safe compared to Harry and-"

"Yeah, what about Harry, eh?" Neville's head snapped up and his eyes met hers. "Where is Harry, then? And Hermione? And Ron, because I sure as hell know he doesn't have spattergroit." Ginny fell silent and she looked away from him guiltily. "Yeah, that's right, I'm the only one who doesn't know. I thought that maybe our little stint at the Ministry had brought the six of us close enough to talk about this kind of stuff, but I guess that was a bloody stupid wish."

"So that's what you're mad about?" Ginny scoffed, tossing her head. "You're mad that we aren't sharing information with you? That's childish, Nev."

"I'm mad because I thought you trusted me enough to tell me," Neville cried, his eyes burning with anger.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want to believe it!" Ginny burst out suddenly, causing Neville to fall silent. "Forgive me for being selfish but I didn't want to believe that the three of them left without me. That Harry broke up with me," she mumbled the last part, her eyes turning slightly glassy. "I feel so useless, they didn't want me on their little quest. Dumbledore's Army was going to be my way of making a difference, of helping in some way."

"All Dumbledore's Army would do is get you in trouble. And that's the last thing we need right now," Neville said softly, putting a comforting hand on her knee.

"You're being such a bloody idiot right now!" Ginny slapped his hand away. She rose up from the couch and spun on her heels furiously. Neville sighed as he watched her stomp across the Common Room and storm up the stairs towards the sixth year girls dormitory. He sat alone in the overstuffed chair for a while longer, staring at the fire, before he finally stood up. He followed in Ginny's footsteps and made his way up to his own dormitory. He pushed open the final door at the top of the staircase and shuffled in. Inside he found several empty, cold-looking beds positioned around the dark room.

"Hey," Seamus waved at him half-heartedly from the floor where he was unpacking his trunk. He put down the extra robes he had in his hands and got up to greet Neville. "Guess it's just us this year," he said with a sigh, sitting down on the bed he had claimed.

Neville thought about Ron and Harry, who he had only just learned were on the run, no doubt trying to save the world. His mind then drifted to Dean, in hiding like all the other muggle-borns and unidentified half-bloods. "Yeah, just us."

Seamus looked down at his hands. "Sorry, you're stuck with me, I probably won't be as good company as the other blokes would be."

"Don't be daft," Neville scoffed. "I would choose you over Ron any day, I've never heard someone snore as loud as he does."

"You've got me there," Seamus said with a laugh, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly. "God bless my soundless sleeping habits."

Neville chuckled before spotted his trunk sitting on a bed on the other side of the room. He walked over to it and hesitated before pulling it off of the bed. With a grunt, he dragged it back towards Seamus. "Mind if I take this one?" He asked, nodding at the bed closest to Seamus.

Seamus looked at him, first baffled then almost relieved. "Not at all, mate."

The two of them caught up with each other as they unpacked in the candlelit room. They avoided the topic of summer break, instead opting to discuss classes and how ugly looking the new professors were. After a while, Seamus checked his watch and noted that it was getting late. Neville agreed and quickly changed out of his traveling clothes and into his pajamas. As he lay in his bed, a thousand thoughts flooded his mind, most of them related to the fight he and Ginny had just had downstairs. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it to no avail. Sitting up, he blew out the candle on his bedside table before settling back in. He let the warm darkness of the room slowly soothe him to sleep.


	3. Change

"Anyone else get no sleep last night?" Ginny asked with a yawn as she spoke over the hustle of nervous first and second years in the Common Room the next morning.

Lavender, Parvati, and Seamus all half-heartedly raised their hands, emitting groans as they did so. Neville merely nodded as he rubbed at the purple rings clearly present under his eyes. He shot a nervous look at Ginny but she either didn't notice or chose to not acknowledge it.

McGonagall walked into the bustling room and immediately a silence swept over the students. "Good morning, pupils, I hope you slept well." She was met with dull eyes and yawns, which she chose to ignore. "There have been many changes implemented this year, which I expect you all to follow. This includes mealtime and hallway etiquette. We will walk in formation to every meal as a house, there are no exceptions. If you are not ready at the time we're leaving then you must stay in the Common Room. There will be no students roaming the halls unsupervised, is that clear? Good. Now if the prefects could please join me…"

"This is ridiculous," Ginny muttered under her breath as Parvati and the other prefects surged forward to assist Professor McGonagall.

"Yeah, why did Neville get the prefect badge over me?" Seamus grumbled as he cracked his back.

"For the same reason Parvati was chosen and I wasn't," Lavender said. Seamus gave her a questioning look and she said, "Because you and I are unreliable and bad role models."

Seamus thought about it for a second and shrugged before high-fiving Lavender. "Can't argue with the facts, cheers to that." Lavender smirked.

"This is ridiculous," Ginny announced a second time as Neville took her by her shoulders and steered her over to the rest of the sixth years. "First they take away Quidditch and clubs now they're threatening to starve us if we're not on time? Who do they think they are?"

"Completely unfair." Neville agreed, glad Ginny was still talking to him after their brief argument the night before. He hadn't expected her to even acknowledge him, much less talk to him. She merely sighed and took her place beside Demelza Robins, who gave her a smile and squeezed her hand.

The Gryffindors exited the Common Room and marched through the hallway and down the staircase with McGonagall at the head of the orderly pack. Neville, from the tail-end of the formation, couldn't help but scoff under his breath at how bizarre the new rules were. He caught Parvati's eye and rolled his eyes. She returned the expression.

Snape watched from his throne-like perch as the unit of Gryffindors entered the Great Hall and swarmed around their assigned tables. His lip curled in disdain but had no reason to reprimand them, and perhaps that was the reason his expression was so sour. He made eye contact with Neville and his scowl deepened. Neville returned the intense gaze to the best of his abilities as he sat down and loaded his plate with breakfast. He began to sweat, however and had to look away. He instead busied himself with the pumpkin juice jug as McGonagall began passing out their timetables for the year.

"Professor?" Lavender tentatively raised her hand after receiving her sheet of parchment.

"Yes, Miss Brown?" McGonagall turned around from where she was enchanting schedules to fly to their owners.

"I don't remember signing up for a Dark Arts class," Lavender said, tracing a line of her schedule with her index finger. "There must have been a mistake."

McGonagall stiffened. Her eyes drifted towards the staff table, where Amycus Carrow was greedily tearing a bite of sausage off his fork with his teeth. Her gaze then wandered to the stoic headmaster. She scowled. "Our headmaster believes that Defense Against the Dark Arts is such an important class that all students have been required to take it."

"Then why is it just the Dark Arts?" Neville asked, having found the class on his own schedule. The words " _Dark Arts"_ glared ominously up at him from the parchment.

McGonagall's jaw clenched. "Our headmaster," she repeated, "brought in a new teacher who hasn't quite…agreed with the curriculum. With some changes approved by the Ministry, we have replaced Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Dark Arts. Lord knows why," she muttered the last part under her breath. "Professor Carrow is perfectly…equipped to lead the class and his new teaching style has been…anticipated by the rest of the teachers."

"So we're going to learn how to use the dark arts instead of avoiding them?" Neville asked, shocked as his friends immediately began to protest around him. Learning dark magic had never part of the curriculum, for many reasons.

McGonagall gave a terse nod. "Both Dark Arts and Muggle Studies have turned into required classes that every student must take." In a lower voice, she then said, "I expect you all to stay out of trouble instead of looking for it. I want you to be good role models for the younger children."

Snape was watching them from his seat at the head table through narrowed eyes. He began to stand, still looking at the clump of older Gryffindors and their Head of House. McGonagall quickly moved away from them and continued to pass out schedules with her eyes adverts from Snape. Neville watched as the satisfied headmaster sat down.

"We aren't even going to learn how to defend ourselves in a class meant specifically for defense," Ginny whispered furiously to Neville. "Nev, you know that this means. If we start up the DA again then we can-"

Neville pointed his fork at her. "Ginny, I've already told you no. It's too dangerous."

Ginny gave a small snort and Neville felt any tentative solidarity crumble. She excused herself with a rude _harrumph_ and slid off the bench to go talk to Luna at the Ravenclaw table.

Parvati looked at Neville with sad eyes as she sipped her morning tea. "We'll have to keep an eye on her, Neville. You know Ginny, she's going to go looking for trouble."

Neville sighed and let his head drop into his hands. "I know."

* * *

"Hello students," Professor Sprout greeted her class with a weary smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "My, we have a small class this year."

Neville looked around the small greenhouse, surprised to see only Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein, and Susan Bones present. His heart was heavy as he made a mental list of the muggleborn students not present that would've been in that Advanced Herbology class. Hermione was one of them, of course. He tried to stop thinking about it and instead put his focus on the excitement of the first day of school. He had decided that he was going to be optimistic, despite the dismal situation of his school.

Professor Sprout instructed them to take out their textbooks and put on their gloves. In the midst of people searching through their bags for their equipment, a red-faced Hannah Abbott stumbled into the greenhouse. To his right, Neville could hear Susan Bones let out a choked sigh of relief. Hannah's face became redder as she noticed that everyone was staring at her. "I'm so sorry I'm late, Professor," she said embarrassedly.

"It's fine, Miss Abbott. Just don't be late again," Professor Sprout said with a wave of her hand, though Neville could see suspicion growing on her face.

Hannah nodded and ducked her head. "I'm sorry, I was held back in class. Professor Carrow wouldn't let me leave."

Sprout looked up sharply, her suspicion suddenly replaced with anger. "Which Carrow was it?"

"The brother," Hannah hung her head shamefully, twisting her fingers. All four students, Neville included, pretended to prepare their workspaces as they craned their necks to listen in on the conversation at the front of the room.

Sprout took Hannah's arm and turned her away from the other students. "What did he do?" The concerned professor hissed. "Did he do anything? I swear if he touched-"

"Oh no, Professor!" Hannah's eyes went wide and she shook her head furiously. "No, no, nothing of the sort. He didn't do anything."

Professor Sprout relaxed a bit. "Good. Stay safe, Hannah." Then in a louder voice, "Please take the seat between Miss Bones and Mister Longbottom." Hannah gave a small nod and scurried down the aisle and plopped herself down in between Susan and Neville. From the table across from them, Terry and Anthony looked at each other and broke out into hurried whispers after the exchange between Professor Sprout and the blonde Hufflepuff.

"What did Carrow want, Hannah?" Susan Bones whispered fiercely to Hannah as the blonde busied herself with rummaging through her bag. "Were you telling the truth to Professor Sprout? Did he do anything to you? My Auntie told me about him years ago. He has a terrible reputation, you should hear the things he has done to women-"

"Nothing happened, Susan," Hannah replied, clearly flustered. "He questioned me further about my blood status," Hannah said, attempting to busy herself with her flower pot, a look of disgust on her face. "He was pleased. Gave me compliments for it. Praise, even. It was disgusting. He also advised me to stay away from half-bloods"

"We need to be careful this year," Susan muttered under her breath, turning back to her own workspace as she traced her gloved-finger through a small pile of soil.

Hannah turned and, as if just noticing him, smiled at Neville. "Hello, Neville. Have a good summer?"

"Hm? Oh me? Yes? I mean, yeah, I did," Neville spluttered. He tried acting as if he hadn't been listening in on her conversations for the past five minutes but it was obvious. "You?"

As Hannah started talking about her summer, Neville took the chance to study her. Her pigtails were gone and her blonde hair now tumbled over her shoulders, held back with a black headband. She looked more mature, not just physically, but also in the way she held herself and spoke to people. She gave off an air of confidence that Neville had never seen her exude before. It was as if she had suddenly become an adult over the summer. He was suddenly struck with guilt about the way he was making assumptions about her. Hannah was one of the only girls that would talk to him because she wanted to, not just to be polite. They had been Herbology partners for years, both having a special knack for the subject.

"Neville?"

Neville snapped out of his thoughts to see both Susan and Hannah looking at him expectantly. "Huh?"

"Boys," Susan muttered, rolling her eyes.

"We were just wondering when the next DA meeting is," Hannah said, choosing to ignore her friend's comment.

"Oh, uh," Neville was stuck. "We, um, we don't know yet." He could see that Terry and Anthony had begun to listen in at the mention of the DA.

Hannah and Susan looked disappointed. "Okay, well let us know," Hannah said with a smile as she tried to hide her disappointment with a cheerful voice.

"Class! Be sure to handle those Alihotsy leaves gently. I don't want a bunch of bumbling students spouting nonsense," Professor Sprout shouted suddenly and the students quickly went back to work.

* * *

By the time Neville had made it through a rather depressing hour of Divination in which Professor Trelawney was reduced to tears twice, his spirits had deflated exponentially. He exited the class, rather relieved that it was over, and caught up to Lavender and Parvati who were walking up ahead of him. The girls hooked their arms through his and the trio sullenly trudged down the hall to their next class. All around, students moved in clusters, scared of being alone. Their heads were bowed and the hall was near silent. Neville couldn't remember the last time he had heard the halls so quiet.

"There's bad energy everywhere," Lavender whispered sadly, studying all the solemn faces. "And to think this is all because of that war. These are children! They shouldn't have to be worrying about that."

"Neither should we, I suppose," Parvati said stiffly. "Like it or not, most of us are still technically kids, though it doesn't really feel like that nowadays."

"Everybody's growing up too quickly," Neville supplied as they rounded a corner. They found Seamus and their huddle went from three to four as they made their way to the class that everyone had been dreading.

The Gryffindors entered the classroom cautiously, crossing their fingers that they wouldn't be with the Slytherins. To their relief, they saw a small knot of Ravenclaws looking equally nervous until they saw the Gryffindors. Terry Boot and Michael Corner broke away from their group, beckoning the other seventh years over. As Neville and the other Gryffindors crossed the room, he felt a pair of eyes following them. He looked towards the front of the room and saw Carrow watching them from his desk. He shuddered slightly

"Carrow's mad, absolutely mad," Anthony Goldstein noted as soon as the circle was complete. "Did you hear what happened with the fourth years? They're all scared to death."

Neville took a good look around the circle. Parvati had her arms linked with Lavender and Padma, all three of them fidgeting anxiously. Seamus was settled next to them with his arms crossed, looking incomplete without Dean by his side. Terry and Michael stood close together along with Anthony, who kept glancing at the door to see if anyone else would be joining them. Two other Ravenclaw girls, Neville was nearly sure their names were Su Li and Morag MacDougal, were huddled together, looking as if they were ready to burst into tears at any moment. There were ten of them. Ten seventh year Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students. Neville felt his heart drop.

"This all of the Ravenclaws?" Seamus asked, having a line of thought similar to Neville's.

Anthony frowned slightly as he looked around and his housemates. "Yeah. Mandy's parents wouldn't let her come back this year."

"Neither would Stephen's," Michael said with a snort. "And he's a pureblood, that lucky bastard. Heard he transferred to Beauxbatons."

"Kevin is on the run," Anthony continued, then hesitated. "And we don't know where Lisa is." At that, the Ravenclaws looked down. Morag choked back a sob.

"Dean's on the run," Seamus supplied, breaking the sudden silence. "So is Hermione, I suppose. Harry's off doing something to save us all and Ron is sick."

"Spattergroit," Neville said quietly, offering up the lie that Ginny had told him.

A small cough came from the front of the room. The group jumped and turned to see Amycus Carrow standing fifteen feet away from them, tapping his foot on the hardwood floor. His scowl made his ugly face look even uglier. "What's all of this? Class has started. If you aren't in your seats in ten seconds," his face broke out into a devious smile, "detention for all of you." In a mad rush, the small crowd quickly threw themselves into the empty desks. Neville found himself next to Anthony Goldstein with Michael and Seamus sitting behind them. Padma and Lavender sat one seat in front and Terry and Parvati sat one seat behind with Morag and Su across the aisle from them. All of them were breathing heavily.

"Pity," Carrow's lip curled as he turned around and walked back to the front of the room "It seems that you're better behaved than the fourth years."

Neville heard Seamus give a small snort and willed his friend to stay quiet.

It seemed that Amycus had heard and he spun back around gleefully. "Oh? Am I wrong?"

"No sir," Seamus said quickly after Neville kicked his chair and Michael had nudged him.

"We'll see," Carrow responded lowly. "I'm Professor Carrow." He spread his arms out wide, gesturing to the room. "And welcome to the Dark Arts."

Neville took a chance to study the room completely. It was dark, thick curtains blanketing all of the windows. Shelves were covered in dangerous-looking trinkets, similar to those in Borgin and Burkes. There were jars and containers of bugs and animals floating in discolored water, some alive and some long dead. The few books that were in the room had dark covers and violent titles. Neville felt his heart clench when his eyes landed on a cup of quills, not so different from the ones Umbridge had her students use, sitting on the professor's desk.

"The Ministry has given me free rein of this class so you should anticipate an interactive and rigorous curriculum. You will quickly learn that Dark Magic is the most useful and powerful type of magic. I expect nothing but perfection and cooperation, I hope you all will understand that." Carrow began walking towards the nervous group of students. He stopped in front of Padma and Lavender and looked them up and down greedily. Neville tensed, remembering the tone in Hannah's voice when she had talked about Carrow. "Introductions, now. Name?" He barked at the girls, spittle flying through the air. Lavender flinched.

"Lavender Brown." She stuttered. Her hands instinctively drifted up towards her hair and she began twirling a curl nervously around her finger.

"Blood status?"

"Pureblood."

Carrow nodded approvingly and his eyes seemed to linger further on her. Neville heard Seamus emit a low growl as Carrow moved on to Padma.

"Name and blood status?"

"Padma Patil, pureblood."

The room was thick with tension as each person stated their name and status. It was silent aside from Carrow and his questioning. The professor gave a small snort of disgust when Michael had said that he was half-blood and Neville was nearly positive that he had laughed when Neville had said his own name. Once Carrow had finished with Michael, he rounded on Seamus.

"Name and blood status?"

"Why are you doing this?" Seamus asked rigidly, leaning back in his seat. Neville bit back a groan and silently prayed that Seamus would be complicit.

"Name and blood status?"

"This isn't the Ministry, is it? You have no right to ask me about this," Seamus proclaimed. He stared into Carrow's eyes unflinchingly.

"Name. Blood status." Carrow's patience was wearing thin. His eyebrows were close to meeting in the middle as he frowned down his nose at the Gryffindor.

"Why are we talking about blood status? This isn't Muggle Studies, right? Oh wait, that's taught by your bitch of a sister."

Carrow jerked his wand so suddenly that half of the room jumped. Seamus flinched as the side of his cheek tore open in a long cut. From beside him, Michael gasped as blood began to trickle down the side of the Gryffindor's face. The professor moved closer to Seamus, wand up, and pointed at him.

"What is your name?" He breathed out, barely above a whisper.

"Seamus Finnigan," Seamus growled, his hand moving up to the fresh wound on his face. His hand came back with blood on it and he stared at it in shock.

"And what is your blood status?"

"Half-blood."

Professor Carrow's lip curled in disgust. He leaned forward and watched as a drop of blood fell from the cut and onto the desk. He looked Seamus straight in the eyes. "Filth. Your blood is tainted with filth."

Seamus glowered at him, then spat at his feet. "Piss off."

Carrow's hand whipped out to slap Seamus across the face but he stopped himself. He retracted his hand and took a deep breath. "Detention, Mister Finnegan. Tonight at seven, my office. Don't be late or I'll extend your punishment for the week."

"You can't do that," Terry Boot slammed his hand down on his desk as he spoke up for the first time in class that day. "It's the first day of school and he didn't do-"

"How dare you speak out of turn to a professor like that!" Carrow spun around with lightning speed, wand now pointed directly at Terry. Terry recoiled, slowly lifting his hands up. Neville was shocked by his bravery, and so was Michael, it seemed, for Neville could hear him swearing under his breath.

"I meant no disrespect, Professor," the Ravenclaw said calmly, hands still held up in the air. "It was meant to be an observation, not a snide remark. I apologize."

"And who are you?" Carrow asked as he passed by Neville, a look of curiosity on his face.

"Terry Boot, half-blood."

"Another one, I see," Carrow said with mild distaste. "Are you able to tell me, Mister Boot, why you Ravenclaws are all spawns of Muggles?" He asked in mock curiosity, peering down menacingly at Terry.

The Ravenclaw raised his chin. "We tend to be more open-minded and accepting of people. Something I'm sure that you wouldn't understand."

"I've always hated Ravenclaws," Carrow contemplated as his face contorted into an antipathetic expression. "Detention, Mister Boot, for speaking out of turn. You'll be joining Mister Finnegan in my office tonight."

Terry clenched his jaw but said nothing. Carrow made his way back to the front of the room and spun around. A taut and insincere smile was spread on his face. "I think I've had enough introductions from you lot, I know exactly the kind of people I'm dealing with here. Now, on with the lesson. Who can name five curses that inflict pain upon the recipient?"

Neville could see the discomfort radiating off of his classmates as Carrow began to lecture. He saw it in the way that Parvati twisted the rings on her fingers, how Lavender was hunched in her seat and Seamus shifted back and forth in his chair, how Michael and Terry kept sending nervous glances back and forth.

When class had finally ended, the seventh-years quickly gathered their things and exited the classroom as soon as possible, leaving behind pieces of parchment and loose quills. Once they had escaped into the hall, Morag and Su immediately excused themselves and hurried off.

"I'll see you tonight, Boot and Finnegan," Amycus called from inside the room in a sing-songy voice as the door swung shut.

Seamus gritted his teeth. "That man is pure evil," he spat, glaring at the door. "He's just as bad as everyone's been saying. Sorry to drag you into this, mate." He addressed Terry, turning his head to the side so Parvati could fix up his cheek with her wand.

"You didn't deserve that detention," Terry stated matter-of-factly, shrugging his shoulders.

"Those Carrows are bad news," Padma sighed and turned to look at her sister. "Our father went to school with them and he warned us to be careful around them. We almost weren't allowed back when he heard that they would be teaching us."

"You," Neville pointed an accusing finger at Seamus, "will need to learn how to keep your mouth shut."

"I know." Seamus frowned and looked away. "But the way he talks about blood purity, it makes me sick."

Michael tugged at the strap on his book bag. "Yeah, well Terry and I have his sister in five minutes, which I'm sure is going to be a right treat."

"Stay safe," Parvati supplied as the two boys turned to go. The rest nodded in agreement.

"You too," Terry said with a grim smile.

As everybody parted ways, Michael caught Neville's arm. "Let us know when DA is starting up again." Neville nodded dumbly, unsure of how to reply. Parvati tugged him in the other direction, guiding him down the hall with the other Gryffindors towards the Great Hall.

Neville ran into Ginny as he was heading into the Great Hall. Literally. Ginny was flying down the hallway, looking over her shoulder. When she finally was facing forward, she ran right into Neville, causing her to topple over.

"Jesus Ginny," Neville clutched his chest. "You scared me half to death. What's the rush?" He motioned for Parvati, Seamus and Lavender to head into lunch, which they did. Once they were gone, he dragged Ginny to her feet by her elbow.

Ginny pushed her ginger hair out of her eyes, panting as her heartbeat slowly began to go down. "Running away from some Slytherins," she said with a casual shrug.

Neville crossed his arms and squinted his eyes. "And what did you do that caused them to chase you?"

"Crabbe and Goyle were bullying some first years," Ginny responded, not quite answering the question that was posed to her.

"And what did you do?" Neville repeated suspiciously.

"I gave Goyle a bunch of boils in a rather unfortunate place if you know what I mean." Ginny nudged Neville playfully, wiggling her eyebrows. She rolled her eyes when he didn't laugh. "They'll be pretty painful when they pop."

"Ginny," Neville sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I told both you and Luna to stay out of trouble. These people are dangerous and getting on their bad side the first week of school is the last thing we want to do."

Ginny frowned. "I know you're concerned, Nev, but I couldn't just pass by." She got a sudden glint in her eyes. "I hope you'll reconsider your decision, I _really_ want to start up DA again."

"Ginny, it's too dangerous." Neville groaned, thinking about the consequences of his last class.

"Please Neville." Ginny clasped her hands together over her chest. "Luna and I are on board but we can't do it without you. Haven't you had people asking you when the next meeting is?"

Neville thought of Michael and Hannah, the eager looks in their eyes as they asked about the status of the DA. "Yeah, I have," he sighed, rubbing the hem of his robe in between his fingers as he pondered the situation. "Give me a while to think about it, I'm not saying yes quite yet."

Ginny grinned and punched him in the shoulder. "That's the spirit, Longbottom, I'm glad you've reconsidered," she said cheerfully, looking down at his watch. "Damn, I'm going to be late to Defense."

"It's not actually called Defense anymore. Just the Dark Arts." Neville's eyes then widened. "Go, don't be late!" He gently pushed her in the right direction. "You'll get in trouble if you're late. Seamus and Terry already have detention tonight, I don't want anyone else getting in trouble with Carrow."

"Boot has detention?" Ginny raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"He was defending Seamus."

"No kidding," Ginny looked crestfallen as Neville had felt as he witnessed the Ravenclaw receiving detention.

Neville pushed Ginny further down the hall. "Stop thinking about that and go to class! Hurry!" He shouted as she took off running. "And I haven't said yes yet." He added as an afterthought.

* * *

At dinner, Neville was relieved to see Ginny all in one piece, sawing at a piece of roast beef with her knife. From the way Parvati and Lavender were eyeing her from down the table, they felt the same way. Feeling all the attention on her, Ginny set down her fork and cocked an eyebrow. "Are you all my mother now?" The three of them quickly muttered ' _no's_ ' and tore their gazes away from her as they attempted to busy themselves with dinner. "Good. Because I'm not a child."

"That's debatable," Neville muttered, causing her to glare at him.

Lavender leaned against Seamus, who was sitting to her left. "You doing okay, Seamus? You've been awfully quiet tonight."

Seamus gripped his napkin and nodded as he stared down at his untouched soup. "I've had better days but yeah, I'm fine. I'd rather not have my arse beaten by that bastard on the first day, but that's just how it is I guess."

"Your fault for opening your mouth," Ginny said with a shrug as she shoveled potatoes into her mouth. Lavender shot her a glare as she rubbed Seamus's arm soothingly. "Oh don't give me that look, Lavender, he knows what he did. He doesn't need to be babied."

"Nah, she's right," Seamus said as Lavender opened her mouth to retort. "It's my fault that Terry's in the doghouse, too. Surprised _you_ managed to keep quiet, though, Weasley. What with that big mouth of yours."

Ginny shrugged and gave him a cocky smile. "My self-control can be quite impressive at times. It was unbearable, though, trust me. That man belongs in a jail cell. Luna helped me keep my cool."

Neville turned around and shot a grateful look towards the Ravenclaw table. Luna gave him a peaceful smile when he caught her eye.

Snape rose from his chair, indicating that dinner was over. Everybody in the Great Hall rose and were led out by the prefects. Seamus muttered a solemn goodbye as he hung back to wait for Terry to catch up so they could walk to detention together. Parvati, Lavender, Neville, and Ginny left with the rest of the Gryffindors and went to the Common Room. They found an empty couch and cluster of chairs and claimed that spot to sit and do homework. The minutes crept by freakishly slow and at some point, the homework was forgotten as they all sat anxiously waiting for their friend's return. Soon it had gotten so late that they were the only ones left in the Common Room.

"What if something bad happened to them?" Lavender, who had been on her feet for the past hour, was pacing back and forth, weaving around the chairs and tables scattered around the Common Room. She stopped in front of Neville and grabbed his arm, looking at the watch on his wrist, then dropped it and continued her migration.

"Lavender, sit down," Parvati sighed and pulled Lavender down onto the couch as she passed by. She put her hands on her friend's arm. "They'll be back soon," she said reassuringly.

"Carrow can't be too hard on them, can he?" Lavender asked hopefully as she tapped her fingers against Parvati's hand. "It's only the first day of school, after all."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Neville said as he and Ginny waved away some second years who were peeking around the staircase. They grumbled as they climbed back up the stairs to go to bed.

"I just hope he doesn't say anything stupid enough to get him into further trouble," Ginny frowned as she stared into the fire.

The group sat in worried silence. Neville rested his elbows on his knees, thinking about how if Dean were there, Seamus wouldn't be in trouble. He missed Dean's calming nature. It had been nearly half an hour before the portrait hole finally swung open. Immediately, everyone had jumped to their feet and crowded the entrance. They were surprised to see two figures instead of one.

Seamus was leaning heavily on Terry Boot with one arm around the Ravenclaw's neck, who appeared to be supporting him by his waist. Seamus's tie was hastily wrapped around Terry's neck, obscuring the blue tie from sight. The Ravenclaw grimaced as he heaved Seamus up and into the Common Room.

"Oh my gosh!" Parvati and Ginny pulled Seamus off of Terry and led him straight to the couch where they sat him down.

"So this is what the Gryffindor common room looks like," Terry looked around in wonder as he rubbed his shoulder, clearly relieved to be rid of the extra weight. "Mike and Tony will be so jealous to know I got to come here."

Lavender was immediately at Seamus's side, inspecting his body for any signs of injury. "Bloody hell, are you okay?"

"Carrow's crazy," Seamus panted as he tried to sit up, only to be simultaneously pushed back by Ginny and Lavender. "wasted no time in blasting me out of my chair and into a wall when I didn't obey."

"He had those blood quills like Umbridge did," Terry said as he made his way over to the couch everyone was crowded around. "Had us write lines for thirty minutes." He held up his hand and Neville could see rivers of dried blood on his tan skin.

"Why did you have to be so difficult," Lavender slapped Seamus's shoulder angrily.

"You know me, Love," Seamus grimaced. "And I think you'd better understand if you had heard what he said."

"The Hospital Wing was too far away for me to bring him to," Terry piped up. Plus all the Slytherin prefects were on patrol tonight. They were eager to start a fight. Couldn't even get close to the Ravenclaw Tower. So I brought him here," he said apologetically.

"This is ludicrous," Ginny whispered furiously as she studied the two boys and their injuries. Neville did the same. They were better off than they could have been, but the word ' _filth'_ bleeding on both of their hands made him furious. It was very reminiscent of their time under the Umbridge regime.

"Thanks, mate," Terry handed the crimson and gold tie back to Seamus. He looked at the rest of the Gryffindors. "Is it alright if I stay here tonight? As Seamus said, the Slytherins are crawling the halls like hungry animals."

"Of course," Neville and Parvati said immediately and the rest nodded.

"I should be the one thanking you," Seamus said, gasping slightly as Parvati accidentally jabbed his ankle with her wand as she uttered a healing spell.

"Sorry," she winced slightly. "I don't think it's broken but it'll hurt for a little while, Seamus. We'll get you to the Hospital Wing at some point tomorrow. For now, we should get you upstairs and into bed.

Neville and Terry stepped forward and helped Seamus up off the couch. Parvati gently pushed Neville aside, taking his place under Seamus's arm. "I've got it," she reassured Neville as he began to protest. "I've got some pain-relieving potions somewhere up in my room that I'm gonna find for him." The three made their way towards the stairs slowly and began to climb, Lavender trailing behind them.

"Oi! Why isn't the staircase turning into a slide right now!" Neville heard Seamus exclaim angrily, referring to the fact that the staircase would do so if a boy attempted to enter the girls' dormitories. "That is such a double standard!"

"I would slap you right now if you weren't injured," Lavender's annoyed voice drifted down the staircase. Neville rolled his eyes.

"We have to start the DA up again," Ginny burst out once the others had made it to the seventh year boys dormitory and the door clicked shut. She was practically blowing smoke from her ears, and Neville fleetingly wondered if he was about to face the wrath of a redhead he had heard so much about from Dean and Harry.

"Ginny-"

"Did you see what that pig did to our friends?"

"I know and-"

"We can't just sit here doing nothing! Resistance is better than accepting what is-"

"Ginny!" She stopped talking and stared at Neville expectantly. He looked hesitant but then nodded. "Okay."

Ginny looked at him, dumbstruck as her jaw dropped open. "What?"

"I said okay. Let's do it. Let's bring back the DA."

Ginny squealed and surprised Neville with the strong hug she gave him. "This is amazing, Nev! You won't regret your decision."

"I sure hope so," he muttered under his breath.

She tugged at his elbow, guiding him over to the staircase. "Come on! We need to go tell the others right away!" She dragged him up the stairs and into his dormitory where everybody was currently residing.

Their friends were ecstatic to hear the news.

"We're just what this school needs," Seamus said as he rubbed his hands together. "Oh man, I've been waiting for this!"

"It seems like you've managed to make him reconsider, Gin," Parvati said playfully. She turned towards Neville and she suddenly turned serious. "Are you sure about this, Neville? Is it really such a good idea after what happened tonight?" She asked in a low voice.

"I think we need Dumbledore's Army now more than ever," he replied, using the same words that Ginny previously used, ignoring the sliver of doubt that was bouncing around his head. "Terry, it'd be great if you could replicate Hermione's Protean charm on the galleons now that the leading coin is gone. We'll need to get the word out."

"Absolutely," Terry beamed. "Anthony and Padma can help me."

"We'll spread the news tomorrow, let the Hufflepuffs and the rest of the Ravenclaws know," Neville said and the rest nodded, their eyes shining.

"I think it's time for us to go to bed," Parvati said suddenly, standing up. Lavender got up as well and the two of them pulled up a slightly less willing Ginny, who looked eager to discuss DA plans. "Come on, Baby Red." Ginny let out a noise of protest at the nickname as Parvati turned to Neville and Seamus. "We'll see you boys in the morning."


	4. Thirteen

McGonagall merely raised an eyebrow the next morning in the Common Room as her eyes landed on Terry, who was wearing one of Neville's spare red ties. She then turned to Neville for an explanation, who only shrugged helplessly. Her eyes narrowed but she didn't question it, instead indicating that Terry should stand in between Ritchie Coote and Jack Sloper as to go unnoticed. Neville sighed in relief and sent her a thankful glance before they marched down to breakfast.

"TERRENCE BOOT!" A voice roared from across the room the moment they had entered through the doors of the Great Hall. The Gryffindors jumped but Terry, as if expecting it, simply smiled and turned around. A furious Michael Corner was striding towards them, robes billowing behind him as Anthony, Padma, and Luna following in his wake.

"Yes, Mum?" Terry continued smiling as Michael stomped over until he was standing four feet away. The younger Gryffindors had quickly dispersed, sitting down at the breakfast table.

"Where were you last night?" Michael had crossed his arms and, indeed, looked like an angry mother. His eyes widened as his gaze landed on the scabbing word _'filth'_ present on Terry's exposed inner arm. He then turned to Seamus and saw the same wound in the same spot along with the Gryffindor's bandaged ankle. He looked between the two with a confused look on his face. "What the hell happened to you two?"

"Carrow," Terry and Seamus responded in unison. They instinctively looked towards the staff table and scowled in the direction of the cruel professor.

"He did that to you?" Padma gasped, stepping out from behind Michael. She grabbed Terry's arm and inspected the word carved into his flesh. " _Filth?"_ She traced her finger over the word, causing Terry to jump back slightly as he pulled his arm out her grasp.

"That hurt, Pad," he complained crossly, nursing his arm.

"Sorry, it's just that it reminded me of Umbridge's blood quills."

"Yeah, that's what Carrow had us use to write lines last night," Seamus said with a nod. "Except it hurt a million times more, it was like poison shooting into your veins."

"I see that Dolores has been using her position in the Ministry to reinstate her cruel disciplinary practices," Anthony scoffed as he eyed the developing scars.

"She doesn't want us to forget her," Ginny muttered. "Like we ever could."

"The Carrows are plenty cruel anyway, they don't need Umbridge breathing down their necks to get them to inflict pain on their students, they'd do it with a smile on their faces," Seamus said, leaning on a table to take the weight off of his ankle.

"Why didn't you come home last night?" Michael asked hotly, addressing Terry once more as he ignored the conversations going on around them.

"This bloke couldn't even stand up, much less walk back to his dormitory," Terry said, nodding his head in Seamus's direction. "So I brought him there."

"Which we're utterly grateful for," Lavender said sweetly, jabbing Seamus in the side with her bony elbow.

"Utterly grateful indeed," Seamus wheezed.

"And then I stayed overnight in Gryffindor House because the halls were crawling with Slytherins," Terry said, trying not to smile in amusement at Seamus's pain.

"I told them that you were fine!" Luna bounced on the balls of her feet as she looked at Terry. "I told them that it was possible that you had been taken by a Dabberblimp. Daddy just wrote a piece on the in the Quibbler" she said, addressing the Gryffindors. Seamus snorted, only to be elbowed by Lavender once again. Neville, never one to discourage Luna's love of imaginary creatures, nodded encouragingly. "But Dabberblimps much prefer water to dry land, so I knew that you were probably with the Gryffindors.

"Good to hear. Thanks, Luna," Terry looked bemused but nevertheless accepted the hug she offered him. He then turned back to the Gryffindors and gave a little bow. "Thank you for allowing a lowly Ravenclaw to enter your house, I'm in your debt. And I hope you know that we are willing to stand by your sides in whatever you do." His housemates nodded eagerly.

"Alright, I'll expect to see you in the Room of Requirement this Wednesday night, then," Ginny said nonchalantly as she innocently twirled a piece of her fiery red hair. She and Terry smirked at each other as Anthony and Padma's eyes went wide.

"You don't mean-" Michael began to say.

"Is the DA starting back up again?" Anthony interrupted excitedly, trying and failing to keep his voice quiet. Neville gave a subtle nod and Parvati and Lavender nodded with smiles.

"Huzzah!" Michael high-fived Terry and Anthony.

Luna clapped her hands, eyes gleaming. "You reconsidered, then?" She asked Neville who nodded again. "How wonderful! I knew he'd come around." The last part was directed at Ginny.

"I did too," Ginny said with a smirk. "And it only took two days, thought you had more stamina than that, Longbottom."

"Oi!" Neville protested as Seamus let out a choking laugh.

The happy exchange stopped abruptly when the Ravenclaws suddenly froze. "What's going on here?" The Gryffindors turned and were suddenly face to face with Alecto Carrow. She bared her teeth in a similar fashion to her brother. "To your tables. Now!" When nobody chose to move, she scowled. "Move or I'll make you move." She began to roll up her sleeves and draw her long wand. That was all it took. Immediately the group split and scurried towards their designated tables. Anthony and Padma looped their arms through Luna's and she waved at Ginny and Neville as she was dragged away.

"If you ever do that again, I'll skin you alive," Neville could hear Michael mutter to Terry as he dragged him by the tie back to the Ravenclaw table.

"It's ridiculous," Seamus growled as he plopped down at the Gryffindor table. "I've never been more scared of two teachers in all my life. At least Umbridge _looked_ nice, despite her rotten heart."

"Those Carrows need to be taught a lesson." Lavender huffed from her spot across from Seamus.

Ginny's eyes danced. "What a wonderful idea, Lavender."

Neville, Parvati, and Lavender all shot Ginny worried looks. "Don't you dare…" Neville began but was interrupted by Seamus.

"I was thinking the exact same thing, Weasley."

Parvati kicked him under the table. "Hush! We aren't supposed to be encouraging anything dangerous, remember?"

Ginny and Seamus look at each other and shrugged. "It was Lavender's idea."

Lavender's eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. "No, it very well was NOT Lavender's idea-" She immediately protested in a squeaky voice.

"So how're we going to get the word out?" Ginny leaned across the table and rested her chin in her laced fingers, ignoring Lavender's griping.

Neville shrugged. "All of the original members minus the Hufflepuffs know that the DA is back. All we need to do is get the word out to them which won't be too hard since there's only four of them."

"Three," Lavender immediately jumped in to correct him. "That Zacharias Smith won't want to be within ten feet of the DA, trust me."

"That's straight facts right there," Seamus said with a snort.

"Alright then, we all have classes with Susan, Ernie, and Hannah so we'll just pass each of them a note."

"Those three are as close as Harry, Ron and Hermione's little trio," Lavender supplied, cutting Neville off. "One note will do, they'll go running and share it with each other the moment they receive it."

"Good point, Lavender. We'll give the note to Ernie then," Neville said with a nod. "And once the Ravenclaws figure out the Protean Charm, we'll be good to go with the galleons and it'll be much easier. Maybe they can even alter the charm and give access to anybody with a coin."

"So we all can send messages," Parvati marveled, looking thoughtful. "That's a great idea."

"Can you talk to your sister and see if that's something possible?" Neville asked, turning to look at her.

"Absolutely," Parvati beamed and nodded eagerly. "I have no doubt in Padma's ability, she'll be able to get it done. It feels so good to be actually doing something," she said with a sigh. "Sure, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are out there making a difference but so are we, right in here in the halls of Hogwarts."

"Beautifully said, Parvati," Neville complimented her with a small smile.

* * *

A carefully crafted note written in Parvati's elegant handwriting was slipped into a surprised Ernie Macmillan's pocket as Seamus brushed past him in the hallway the next day. The Hufflepuffs had obviously read the note, for they along with the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were present in the Room of Requirement Wednesday night at 8 pm.

Neville looked out at the small yet eager group of original Dumbledore's Army members. Counting him, Luna and Ginny, there were thirteen of them present. Eleven seventh-years and two sixth-years. Five Gryffindors, three Hufflepuffs, five Ravenclaws. Though somewhat disappointed with the small number of original members, he was content with the array of people he had. He had heard through the grapevine that Anthony Goldstein and Terry Boot trailed behind Hermione as second and third respectively in their class, though Neville supposed they were now first and second with Hermione not present. Ginny's and Seamus, though often rash and impulsive, were some of the bravest people he had ever met. Susan and Padma, he remembered from past DA meetings, were the perfect balance of rational and quick on their feet. The DA member numbers were small at the moment, but Neville couldn't have asked for better companions.

He let out a little cough and immediately, every single pair of eyes snapped to his attention.

"Hi everybody. It's good to have all these familiar faces here in one room. A nice change from those evil professors we see every day." There was a smattering of chuckles at that comment. "But that's the thing, those Carrows really are evil."

"Hear, hear," Seamus called out, pointing at his ankle for dramatic effect despite the fact that Madame Pomfrey had healed it the previous day.

"Harry, Ron, and Hermione, as you can see, aren't here. I'm sure you've heard rumors about their whereabouts and you probably know as much as we do."

"I knew those three were vacationing in Florence!" Michael said, snapping his fingers. "You lot owe me twenty sickles," he said to Anthony and Terry with a fake look of smugness on his face.

"Weren't you the one that was in Italy this summer, Corner?" Ginny immediately countered.

"She's got you there, mate," Terry said with a chuckle, nudging a scowling Michael.

"Wherever those three may be," Neville interrupted with a chuckle. "One thing's for certain, they sure as hell aren't here."

"Did they really break into the Ministry?" Padma asked as all eyes fell on Ginny for the answer.

Ginny shrugged, recalling the headline of the Daily Prophet that morning. "I wouldn't be surprised if he had."

"Wicked," Michael nodded in approval.

"The point _is_ ," Neville cut in, "they aren't here. I know it feels wrong without them, but it's important, now more than ever, that we continue the legacy they left behind: Dumbledore's Army. It's not safe here, and I think that nearly every student in the castle knows it. I want us to give them hope, I want us to protect them and make them feel safe."

"Those Carrows are going to pay!" Ginny pounded her fist in her palm. She was met with a scattering of cheers.

"What Ginny means to say," Neville shot a pointed look at her, "is that the Carrows are bad news. And let's just say that karma's a bitch."

"What goes around comes around," Luna added, her voice devoid of its usual ditsy drawl.

"So what's the plan, then?" Ernie asked, a hint of skepticism in his voice. "Are you saying that we should just launch ourselves at the Carrows, ready to fight?"

"Why, are you scared, Macmillan?" Seamus taunted the Hufflepuff.

Ernie turned a deep shade of maroon that made his blonde hair stand out. "No, I'm not. I just think that there are other ways of opposing this foul system that doesn't require us jumping into the fray."

"Sounds like cowardice to me," Seamus said with a shrug, causing Neville to facepalm. "Where were you on the Hogwarts train the other day, eh? I didn't see you fighting off any Death Eaters."

"That's because he was inside a compartment protecting some younger students," Hannah said in a raised voice, immediately jumping into the conversation to defend Ernie. She was met with surprised looks and huffed. "Yeah, I learned how to use my voice over the summer, all right? And bravery isn't a trait that's found only in Gryffindor, Finnegan."

"Nobody is questioning the bravery of the Hufflepuffs," Neville quickly said, glaring at Seamus. "Except for Seamus, I guess. And to answer your question Ernie, no, there will be no attacking any professors. I don't want to see heroics, I want us to get our job done."

"And what's our job, do tell?" Michael leaned forward, lacing his finger together in anticipation.

"Recruitment." That one word was all it took to make everybody's jaw drop as if it was the last thing they thought Neville would say.

"Meaning?" Padma asked expectantly when Neville didn't continue.

"We need to recruit more students. There's a war going on out there and we need to teach them how to defend themselves, whether they plan to jump into the war or not."

"There are lots of students who want to join." Luna piped up from her spot next to an eager Ginny. "I've heard many of the younger Ravenclaws discussing it."

"Shouldn't we be keeping the younger students out of trouble, though?" Parvati asked the question as she raised her hand.

"Absolutely. I don't want anyone younger than fourteen participating. Fourth years and up only." Neville said firmly.

"The little ones ain't gonna like that." Seamus chuckled as he shook his head and leaned back. "They're feisty."

"In regards to the younger ones, we're keeping them as far away from danger as we can."

"And as far away from the Carrows, too," Anthony added, wrinkling his nose.

"The Carrows are evil, but are they really horrible enough that they'd hurt an eleven-year-old?" Lavender asked with a worried expression.

"I wouldn't put it past them," Susan muttered.

Neville nodded. "Exactly." It's our duty to protect the little ones from harm but I don't want them joining something that could get them in trouble. We need people who can defend our school. And speaking of the Carrows, I think they can already tell who their enemies are here," Neville said, shaking his head. "We've made ourselves too obvious."

"We already have a reputation." Seamus pondered, looking pleased. "Well, good. Glad to know that those bastards know we aren't gonna take any shit from them."

"They're going to come after us," Ginny said, her eyes dancing with an angry fire.

"I hope I'm right by saying that we have an advantage over them. We know the school better than they do. We have this room," he gestured to the wide room. "And we know of secret passages."

"But Snape said that he closed off the passages before the start of school," Padma objected immediately. "What use would they be if we can't really use them?"

"We could use them as hiding spots?" Hannah suggested.

"Exactly," Neville snapped his fingers. "They'd still be useful to us, just not in the traditional way."

"There's a passage behind a statue of a witch in an unused corridor near the Defense classroom. One eye. Used to lead straight to Honeydukes," Michael said with a wistful smile. "Terry and I found it fifth year and we celebrated Tony's birthday in Hogsmeade." His smile then vanished, replaced by a sadder one. "It's a pity that it's probably shut down."

"The witch's hump opens when you say " _Dissendium_." It's a tight squeeze, but you could probably stay there awhile." Anthony added helpfully.

"On the fourth floor, there's a secret room behind a mirror. It also once had a passageway leading out of the school." Hannah sounded melancholy as she spoke. "I found it in the first year when I was looking for a place to be alone. It caved in during third year, I'm not exactly sure what happened to it, probably some kind of warped magic. It could still fit a couple of people, though."

"There's the Vanishing Cabinet," Susan supplied, then made a face. "But it got destroyed, I'm sure, after Malfoy fixed it. And good riddance, too. It caused us more trouble than good." Ginny made a small noise, thinking of Bill's injuries.

"There's a loose piece of flooring on the third floor. If you slide it open, a ladder leads down to the dungeons." Luna said, softly humming. "I used it to borrow ingredients from the Potions room. Maybe it'll be of some use to us this year."

"On the fifth floor there's a statue of a medieval wizard, Gregory the Smarmy. Mike, Tony, and I stumbled across it in the fourth year when we were running away from Malfoy's cronies. It's a tunnel that leads out of the school. Goes on forever, we never found an end to it." Terry supplied.

"Sounds like the three of you were quite the troublemakers," Ernie said, staring at the three Ravenclaw boys in surprise.

Michael shrugged, looking somewhat pleased. "Not gonna argue with you on that. Sadly, the Weasley twins got all the credit." Seamus, equally surprised as Ernie, gave them a look of newfound admiration.

"What can I say? Those two are legacy-makers," Ginny smirked.

"Listen, we're smarter than the Carrows. Sure, they were once students here, but we know the school better than them. This is our school that they're taking over. We can't make it so easy for them." Seamus stood up, arms spread wide.

"We're stronger when we stand together. The reality is that the Carrows are here, and they're here to stay." The corners of Ginny's mouth turned upwards. "So we might as well make their stay here a living hell." She ignored Neville's disapproving look.

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose of staying out of trouble?" Padma raised an eyebrow.

"Defense and recruitment are our main priorities," Neville assured her. He then noticed Seamus and Ginny's disappointed expressions and sighed. "Though I suppose it would be wishful thinking to say that we avoid the Carrows completely. Some mischief here and there wouldn't hurt as long as we're discreet." He received pleased smiles from the two Gryffindors as they high-fived. "Next week we'll meet again. Same time, same place. Our goal is to spread the word that Dumbledore's Army is still alive. We want recruits, and we want them now," Neville said.

"But how are we going to spread the news?" Ernie asked the question that everyone was thinking.

Anthony snapped his fingers as his eyes lit up. "Propaganda, of course! That's how they gained recruits and support for World War II."

Padma punched his arm, causing him to let out a little squeak. "You git," she hissed. "Propaganda for a war? Come on!"

"He's not half wrong," Ginny muttered, ignoring Parvati's displeased expression.

"So what kind of propaganda are we talking about?" Ernie asked, his eyebrows rising further and further up his forehead.

Neville gave him a half-smile. "Ever heard of graffiti?"


	5. Paint

"Stick All Day Spray," Ginny said as she rummaged through the bag she had brought and tossed a couple of cans to Neville and Seamus. "Spray it on whatever we want to be permanent and it'll stay."

"Nice." Seamus turned the cans over in his hands before passing them to Ernie and Parvati only to have more bottles shoved into his arms by Ginny.

"I'm assuming that these are a product made by your infamous brothers?" Susan raised an eyebrow as she read the label on the can.

"You betcha," Ginny said brightly as she dove into the bag once more, this time emerging with an armful of vibrant spray paint cans.

"They're brilliant," Terry marveled, looking down at the product. "Destructive, but brilliant. Never want to get on their bad side." He gave a little shudder.

Ginny sighed and turned around, hands on her hips. "I know that tone of voice, I've heard it all too many times when I'm left to clean up their mess and counsel their victims. What did they do to you?"

Terry laughed, blue eyes twinkling. "In fifth year they decided to have Mike and I test out theirs Portable Swamps. Snuck one into my bag and we accidentally opened it in our dormitory. We were stuck in there for hours just trying to locate the door. Tony finally found us and made the twins clean it up."

"Er, I'll have them make it up to you sometime?" Ginny said with a wince, cursing her dumb brothers. Terry merely waved it off with a smile.

"I heard 'trapped in our dormitory for hours', you must be talking about the swamp situation," Anthony called out from where he stood a ways away with Padma, grinning impishly.

"Oi! I thought we promised to never talk about that again!" Michael yelled from the other side of the room, putting his hands on his hips.

Neville shook his head with a fond chuckle. "Alright, everybody over here now!"

The small crowd of people eagerly regrouped into a semicircle around Neville, Luna, and Ginny. Since Terry and Seamus's detention, the DA members had been on their best behavior for the past week, all in preparation for that night.

"This group of people standing in front of me I have slowly gotten to know these past few years. I don't know your secrets, and you don't know mine. But I would trust any of you with my life, hands down." Neville hesitated slightly. "We're strong, but we're also small. Our job is simple tonight, get the message out. Let the Carrows know who they're dealing with and let the other students know that we want them to join us."

Seamus raised his hand but Neville stopped him. "And _no_ inappropriate language, Finnegan." Seamus put his hand down, causing Ginny and Lavender to snicker.

"Does everybody have a partner? And does each pair have a can?" Luna stood on her tiptoes, scanning the pairs and nodding her head. Everyone grabbed their partner and nodded their heads _yes_.

"And don't forget these!" Ginny held up a pair of Soundless Shoes, also courtesy of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. She scanned everybody from the knee down and nodded in satisfaction. "Good."

"Slytherin patrol ends in fifteen minutes, so stay away from the dungeons and don't get caught by them. Be as quiet as you can, the shoes will help. Once you're done, meet up with your housemates at the place you've discussed. Questions?" Ginny looked around at the group expectantly. They shook their heads, eyes bright. "Let's go, then," she grinned.

Neville, Ernie, Michael and Susan left first. They slipped out of the Room of Requirement's door and crept down the dark halls quietly. In the silence, Neville studied his friends. They were all dressed in black with no blue or gold ties poking out of their cloaks. A chuckle built up in his throat at the sight of Susan and Ernie, both devout prefects, outwardly breaking the rules. He caught Michael's eye and the Ravenclaw gave him a wink. He gripped his paint can tighter.

Susan suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway and threw her arms, causing the boys to crash into her.

"What was that for?" Michael whispered angrily, rubbing at his aching torso.

"Shut up!" Susan hissed and grabbed the three of them by their cloaks. She dragged them around a corner and shoved them behind a statue. When they had stopped wriggling and whining, she held a finger to her lips, causing them to fall silent. The sound of footsteps moving closer to them echoed through the empty halls. From his place crouched on the ground, Neville held his breath. The sound drew closer and closer until they could hear whispering voices. Susan slapped her hands over Michael and Ernie's mouths as a pair of Slytherin robes fluttered past them. Neville craned his neck to see the backs of Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini walking farther and farther away until they disappeared down another hallway.

Susan let her arms drop and the four of them let out a simultaneous sigh of relief. Ernie shooed them out from behind the statue and they continued their journey.

"Thanks, Susan," Neville said, clearly impressed with her perceptiveness. "You really saved us back there, that could've gone very poorly."

Susan brushed her bangs away from her forehead. "Of course, it was nothing. We can't get caught on our first outing." She said tersely, but her amber eyes twinkled mischievously.

"What do you think?" Michael addressed Neville, having stopped to stare at a tall wall to their right. He looked over his shoulder at Neville expectantly.

Neville studied the empty stone wall that was graying with age. No portraits or flags obscured the bare stone, it was simply naked. He smiled. "It's perfect." Susan and Ernie nodded at them and continued down the hall.

In comfortable silence, they unloaded the bag hanging over Neville's shoulder, uncapped their paint, and went to work on the wall. Michael was shy at first with the paint cans. "Terry's the artist, not me," he had admitted quietly as he sprayed bits of blue paint here and there. But soon his eyes began to shine and a smile had graced his face. Soon he was running down the hallway, arm outstretched with the can of paint. Neville followed after him with his own paint, laughing silently.

The pair passed by Lavender and Seamus who had just exited a classroom, shoulders shaking with silent giggles. Paint covered Seamus's hands and Lavender's cheeks. They smiled brightly at Neville before joining hands and sprinting off around another corner. Padma and Hannah shot past them with their arms linked, Hannah pouring the colors out of the cans and Padma charming them into magnificent rainbow swirls on the walls. He waved at them before chasing after Michael.

Down another hall, Neville could see Terry sitting on Anthony's shoulders, eyebrows drawn in concentration as he carefully decorated the helmet of a stone knight with a small paintbrush. Anthony was clumsily spraying the chest plate of the same knight, nothing close to Terry's precision, but he was grinning. Parvati was cross-legged beside him, back arched as she looked up to study their work and pass them paint cans. Up ahead he could see Michael's head of curly brown hair joining Ginny and Luna as they attacked a wall with color. He grinned and ran to join them.

The time passed by in a blur of fluorescent colors and silent laughter. Neville couldn't remember the last time he had felt so alive and free, despite their caged situation. He smiled as he closed his eyes and let his hands do the work.

And just like that, the adrenaline was suddenly gone and reality had come back. They stood in a line, thirteen in number, in the Great Hall as they admired their handiwork splashed on the walls.

"It's beautiful," Lavender whispered, her blue eyes wide.

"Not bad," Ernie acknowledged with a short nod, but he was smiling proudly.

"It's just what we need." Neville bobbed his head, pleased with their work. "It's just what this school needs."

The Great Hall was no longer an empty stone foyer, rather, it looked like a page of The Quibbler. The walls were splashed in bright colors worthy of the Weasley twins' approval. Lightning bolts mimicking Harry's scar decorated the vacant benches and steps. Neon colors zigzagged across the dusty floors in intricate patterns. Phrases were written on the wall, telling the world that Dumbledore's Army was alive. Ernie had charmed Luna with a levitation spell up to the higher parts of the Great Hall and she had sprayed a raging fire across the walls that moved and flickered in the light of their wands. The rest of the school's corridors were just as vibrant and bright. Neville studied the Great Hall and couldn't help but imagine Dean with them, painting beautiful lions and twinkling stars, his artist eyes wide in wonder. From the corner of his eye, he caught Seamus staring off into the distance and could tell that he was thinking the same thing.

Ginny patted Seamus's shoulder, understanding as well. As if broken from a trance, Seamus shook his head and stepped forward. Parvati offered him a purple can of paint and he took it. Looking up at the blank space on the wall, Seamus began to spray the paint with big motions until he stepped back next to Neville.

' _Dumbledore's Army: Still Recruiting'_ decked the blank surface. Susan waved her wand and the writing was suddenly mirrored multiple times throughout the hall.

The thirteen of them left the Great Hall and moved through the school, their message splayed across wall after wall, hall after hall from Susan's wand. From where she was walking in front, Ginny turned around."Terry, Michael? Are the two of you ready?"

The pair of Ravenclaws held up their wands and nodded. _"Accio brooms!"_ They said in unison, raising their wands high in the air. After a few seconds, a pair of brooms came whizzing down the hallway straight towards them. They grabbed them out of the air and mounted them before kicking off. The two of them zoomed off down the hall, spraying the Stick All Day Spray onto the walls. Not to get stuck to the floors, Padma whispered " _Parapluvia,"_ and the rest of the group was instantly shielded by an invisible umbrella-like covering. Hannah and Susan collected all the paint cans and stuffed them into their bags.

"Thank you," Ginny whispered into Neville's ear as they followed the pair of broomsticks. "Truly. This is exactly what we all needed."

Neville looked around at the rest of their smiling friends and couldn't help but agree. Their happy, shining faces were a drastic but satisfying difference from the previous solemn days. His stern expression softened and he allowed a small smile to stretch across his lips.

Up ahead, Susan tensed in a similar way to how she had earlier. She turned her ear towards a hallway, holding her hands out and indicating everyone to stop. "Do you hear that?" She whispered to the group.

Michael and Terry touched down beside the rest of them and dismounted their brooms, looking to their friends for answers. Everyone was silent, not daring to make a sound. Neville could tell that Parvati and Hannah heard it too because they had both suddenly stiffened. And suddenly he heard it too, it was the sound of a cat meowing.

"Mrs. Norris," Ginny hissed, cursing under her breath angrily. "I hate that bloody cat!"

The cat's meows were growing louder, soon accompanied by a shouting voice. Neville strained his ears and could finally make out what it was saying. "...students out of bed! Students in the corridor!" Mrs. Norris's howls clashed in discord with Filch's rough voice.

Neville's friends turned to him with pale faces, as if silently asking him what to do. He wasted no time in responding. "Ravenclaws, your common room is on the West side of the school, right? Take your brooms and go! I know that three is a tight squeeze, but you'll have to make it work. Put the three lightest on one broom. Be as quiet as you can."

The Ravenclaws followed his order and quickly rearranged themselves. Anthony pulled Padma and Luna onto Terry's broom while Terry and Michael mounted Michael's Cleansweep.

"Anthony, did you bring what I asked?" Ginny whispered urgently before they took off. From his spot on the front of the broom, Anthony nodded and tossed a bundle to her. "Thanks, I'll return it soon. Now go! Avoid the dungeons at all costs."

The two brooms silently sped off down the hall. Luna cast one last worried look over her shoulder at Ginny and Neville before her broom disappeared around a corner.

Ginny tossed the bundle she had received from Anthony to Hannah and pushed her towards the staircase. "I'm sure that the three of you will all be able to fit under this. Get back to your house and be careful. Anthony had better get this back in one piece or he'll make a fit."

Confused, Hannah tentatively unwrapped the bundle. Her eyes widened in recognition and she beckoned Susan and Ernie towards her. She threw the invisibility cloak over the three of them in one sweeping motion. Her head popped out. "We'll see you tomorrow." She whispered before disappearing once again.

"What is the meaning of this, Mr. Filch?" The Gryffindors looked at each other with scared expressions when they heard Snape's cool voice join the discord from somewhere nearby. There were also two grumbling voices added to the mix; Neville assumed it could only be the Carrows. The footsteps indicated that the group of people was walking up the set of steps that Hannah, Susan, and Ernie had just disappeared down. There were no cries or shouts of surprise, so the Hufflepuffs must've slipped past them.

Parvati and Lavender clutched Ginny's arms in terror as Seamus wildly looked around for an escape route. "We gotta get outta here," he whispered urgently. As if snapping out of her shock, Ginny tugged on Lavender and Parvati and lead them down a hallway, gesturing for the boys to follow.

"Anyone know the quickest way back to the Common Room?" She hissed, looking over her shoulder. "Snape'll literally kill us if he catches us."

"What is all of this?" They could hear the male Carrow cry out, his voice ringing down the hall. "Where did this come from?"

"There are children out of bed," his sister cackled, her crude voice filling the darkness. "Where are you, chickies? Chickies mustn't play with paint."

"Keep going! We're almost there," Parvati whispered frantically as Lavender gasped in fright. Their feet silent, the group shuffled down the hall hurriedly, occasionally throwing nervous glances over their shoulders as the voices got louder. When they had finally made it down the correct hallway, a figure passed by the portrait hole and made their way towards them.

Professor McGonagall looked up from tying her dressing gown around her body and gaped as she saw five of her students barreling down the hall towards her. "Wha-"

Her voice was cut off by the Gryffindors wildly shaking their hands to quiet her down. They were looking at her pleadingly, begging her with their eyes to not say anything.

"I heard something down here!" Alecto Carrow's elated cheer followed them down the empty hallway. McGonagall looked at her students once again, taking in their disheveled appearances and wild eyes. She nodded tersely at them and gestured behind her. They hastily scurried past her and threw themselves through the portrait after Neville had whispered, _"Grapevine!"_

"Who's down there?" Amycus Carrow growled, rounding the corner just as the Fat Lady's portrait swung shut, shielding the Gryffindors from sight. He lowered his wand in surprise when he saw that it was McGonagall he was threatening with his wand. "Professor McGonagall."

"The one and only. I heard shouting and came to investigate," McGonagall said tightly, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's late, professors, why are you yelling? You could wake the students."

"See for yourself," Carrow spat, throwing his pointer finger up and directing her down the hall. She followed the line of his finger and saw the bright graffiti decking the halls.

"They've vandalized the school!" Filch wailed as he clutched his hissing cat to his chest. McGonagall had to refrain from rolling her eyes at the caretaker's theatrics.

"Minerva, what is the meaning of all this?" Snape asked McGonagall suspiciously. He looked into her face for any signs of guilt.

"How should I know, Severus?" She shot back in an equally cold voice, holding herself up. "I was sleeping soundly until I was woken up by these two." She pointed a finger at the heavily breathing Carrows.

The Headmaster's face flushed ever so slightly. He gritted his teeth but did not question her further. "Very well, then. Now that you're awake, would you care to investigate with us?"

"I would, thank you very much." McGonagall threw her nose up in the air as she strutted past him and walked down the stairs, gesturing for the others to follow. Filch immediately trotted after her, as did the Carrows after a good amount of grumbling. Snape followed the small group of people down the staircase but tossed one last suspicious look back at the Gryffindor portrait hole. From her ornate picture frame, the Fat Lady glared at Snape, as if daring him to take her students.


	6. Outcomes

"Moment of truth," Ginny whispered as Neville passed by her the next morning as he, along with Parvati, arranged the younger students in formation to head downstairs to breakfast.

"Cross your fingers everything goes well," he muttered back, gently guiding a fourth-year girl into her rightful place.

Ginny took her place beside Demelza and Ritchie. She looked over her shoulder at Seamus and Lavender, both of whom shot her looks of excitement. She grinned back at them and rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

Once the Gryffindors were arranged accordingly, Parvati led the house out of the Common Room and down to breakfast. Neville, at the rear of the crowd, was the last to leave out of the portrait hole. He cast a grateful look over his shoulder at the Fat Lady, who smiled knowingly and waved him onwards with a flick of her hand.

There were gasps and excited whispers as the Gryffindors looked at the brightly painted walls on their way down the staircase. Ginny looked on proudly at the walls that the DA had ever-so-gallantly decorated the night before. She bit her lip to keep from smiling.

The _oohs_ and _aahs_ grew even louder when they entered the Great Hall, which was the crown jewel of the DA's graffiti. It was truly magnificent, the dim light from their wands the previous night hadn't done it justice. The colors were amplified in the early morning sunlight and the reactions that it received were even more amazing.

Younger students had thrown their heads back to look up at the painted walls in wonder. Older students whispered excitedly about the fact that the DA had returned. They Slytherins sat fuming at their table, observing the vandalized Great Hall with looks of disgust. Malfoy, Ginny noted, looked strangely conflicted about the graffiti. Hannah winked at Ginny from the Hufflepuff table and Michael gave the Gryffindors a thumbs-up as they sat down at the Gryffindor table, now painted a deep crimson.

Snape sat fuming in his chair in front of the staff table. He rose after everyone had filed in and waited until the students were seated before he began talking in a deathly low tone. "Last night a group of students broke numerous rules, betrayed my trust, and damaged school property. We are in the process of finding the culprits and expect everyone to comply. Now, if the guilty students would turn themselves in immediately, we won't have to take any drastic measures." The Great Hall remained silent. Snape's face turned a deep maroon. "No? Nobody willing to take responsibility?" No one made a sound. Neville gulped. "Very well. In that case, you will all have to face the consequences. Curfew has now been moved to nine o'clock. Professor Carrow and Professor Carrow will be in charge of all detentions, prefects, and teachers will refer troublesome students to them."

The Great Hall erupted in cries of anger. The Gryffindors turned to each other in horror. Neville, slack-jawed, looked at Ginny. She had the same shocked expression on her face. Up at the teacher table, the Carrows exchanged matching sadistic grins.

"Silence!" Roared Snape over the nervous voices. "You've condoned yourselves to this. If I hear so much as a word about this vandalism, you will find yourself in detention. Have I made myself clear?" He certainly had.

* * *

Though Snape's speech at breakfast had put a slight damper on the excitement, it certainly didn't stop people from talking. All anybody could talk about that morning was the graffiti, the messages, Dumbledore's Army. She couldn't contain her elated spirits and she practically skipped down the hall to class.

She felt a hand slide into hers as soon as she had entered the Divination loft. She looked down at the hand and then its owner, locking her gaze with a pair of wide, dark blue eyes.

"Thank you, Ginny," Demelza Robins whispered to her, her voice emotional and authentic. She squeezed her hand and guided her over to a nearby table and pair of poufs. "That was really brave of you to do that, it's really given people hope."

Ginny tried keeping a straight face as she plopped down onto one of the poufs. "What makes you think it was me?" She asked innocently as she sunk into the pink velour seat.

Demelza giggled as she dropped down into the purple pouf. "Oh come on, Gin. Who else would've thought up something that bold and rash? It's got Weasley written all over it. Plus it just so happened that you were missing from your bed at midnight last night."

"You gonna tell on me, Little Miss Prefect?" Ginny leaned forward and stared intensely at Demelza, raising an eyebrow.

"Hmm. We'll have to see." Demelza tapped her chin slyly.

"You wouldn't!"

"Never! My lips are locked." Demelza imitated locking her lips and the two girls giggled once again.

"You know I'd never want to put you in danger, Mel," Ginny began as she bit her lip. "You're one of my best friends. But what do you say?"

It took Demelza a few seconds to register what Ginny was asking her. When it had finally clicked, she gaped, mouth ajar. " _Me_?" She asked, pointing to her chest in shock. "You want _me_ to join?"

"No, the ghost standing in the doorway. Of course you!" Ginny gave her a good-natured shove. "I mean, you read the messages, we're recruiting." She twisted the rings on her fingers, nervous about what her friend's answer would be.

She didn't need to worry, though, because a smile had spread across Demelza's face. She launched herself out of her seat and tackled Ginny with a hug. "I thought you'd never ask! Oh, thank you, Ginny."

"Er, you're welcome?" Ginny said through a mouthful of thick, dark hair. "Spread the word."

Professor Trelawney teetered past the pair, coming to a stop next to their table. Her hands slammed on either side of their crystal ball, elbows straight and locked. The Gryffindor girls reeled back, surprised at the professor's sudden appearance. Trelawney looked down at them with vacant, owl-like eyes.

"Getting into trouble already, my dears?" She asked as she studied the glass ball perched on their table. She pressed her nose against it as she squinted into it. Her voice was slurred and the lingering scent of cherry liquor drifting through the air suggested that she had been drinking.

"Are you alright, Professor?" Demelza asked sweetly, casting a knowing look at a snickering Ginny.

"I doubt that anyone here is fine with a monster like that running the school, Miss Ruben. These are dark times." Trelawney frowned down at her before focusing her attention back on the crystal ball.

"What are you seeing, Professor?" Ginny stifled a laugh as she observed Trelawney's drunken state.

"Very bad things, Miss Wesleyyyy. Very bad things indeed. You and your family are in the heart of danger, it appears. Be wary of the Easter holiday, my dear. As for you, Miss Rutgen, your new alliance will put you in a tight spot in the coming months. Stay safe-" Professor Trelawney's eyes went cross and she slumped over on their short table before she could finish. Demelza lunged to catch the glass ball the professor had knocked over while Ginny sat frozen in her seat.

"What a load of blarney." Demelza returned the crystal ball to its place and prodded the sleeping Trelawney with her finger. She squinted suddenly and pulled out a small flask from the professor's sleeve. "Well, that figures. Do you think this means that class is canceled?"

Ginny could only stay silent as she stared down at Trelawney in horror as the nutty professor's warning sunk in. She cast a brief glance at Demelza, suddenly wondering if she had made a mistake.

* * *

Neville tapped his foot nervously as he waited for Parvati, Lavender, and Seamus outside the Transfiguration classroom as usual, careful not to make himself visible in the doorway. When his friends had finally emerged, he grabbed their arms and pulled them away from the classroom.

"Mister Longbottom. A word, please?" A crisp voice stopped him before he could make his exit.

Neville sighed, knowing he was unable to dodge the situation and turned around slowly. "Sure, Professor." He looked at his confused friends and said, "I'll meet you at lunch."

Professor McGonagall waited patiently until the last of the seventh years had cleared out of the classroom. As soon as they were alone, she waved her wand and the door gently eased shut. She nodded at the chair next to her desk, indicating that he take a seat. Neville shuffled down the aisle and slouched down in the chair, staring at his feet.

The professor sighed as she slowly sat down at her desk. She shuffled a stack of papers next to her and looked at him pointedly. "That was quite a stunt you and your housemates pulled off last night."

Neville shuffled his feet nervously, unable to meet her eyes. He gave a small shrug, trying to ignore the growing worry he could feel in his stomach.

"And if I read the vandalization correctly, it appears that Dumbledore's Army is back."

"It appears so, Professor," he muttered with a short nod.

"As you very well know, Headmaster Snape has put quite a lot of attention towards catching the individuals involved in this act of vandalism."

Neville nodded again, staring ahead at a spot on the wall where the dark green paint was chipping.

"And as always when it comes to Snape, the Gryffindor students have become the main suspects in this debacle," McGonagall said carefully as she watched him steadily. She sighed and took her wire-framed glasses off, setting them down on her desk. "This current situation is hardly ideal for any of us at the moment, Longbottom. Rebellion is needed in times like these." Neville looked up sharply at this and she held up a hand. "However, it becomes a different situation when my own house is targeted. Headmaster Snape had never taken kindly to Gryffindors and the lions that are ever so royally decking the halls is an obvious indicator of who the culprits are. Professor Carrow and Professor Carrow will not be kind to you in the weeks and months to come, they will not forget this."

"I'm sorry, Professor, I guess we got pretty carried away," Neville said, feeling guilty that he had put a target on the Gryffindor house as a whole. "We were just trying to make a difference. Give the little ones hope, you know?"

Professor McGonagall studied him intently. She then straightened up and put her glasses back on. "Fourth years and up only, please."

Neville raised his head, a look of confusion on his face. "Pardon?"

"No one below year four shall be participating in your group. Whatever your plans are, be discreet and cautious. And don't get caught or so help me I will-" she took a deep breath to calm herself.

"You aren't going to tell Snape?" Neville asked in astonishment.

"I don't have the slightest idea of what you're talking about." The professor cocked her head to the side and raised her eyebrows. "Last night all the Gryffindors were safely in bed like they were supposed to be. As far as I know, they slept soundly throughout the entire heist."

Neville gaped at her.

The professor looked at him coolly from over her glasses. "Close your mouth, Longbottom, there are beetles in here," she said brusquely, then sighed. "Don't act so shocked. It may surprise you, but us teachers are fighting for the same things that you're preaching."

"No, I didn't think-" Neville began sheepishly.

She shook a finger at him. "This is your school, protect it. And I don't want any reports from the Headmaster about negative Gryffindor behavior. Understand?" Neville nodded dumbly. "Good. Now hurry along to your next class, Longbottom."

Neville rose from his seat, flabbergasted, and collected his belongings silently. He gave her a tentative, befuddled smile and turned to leave. Before he could make it to the door, he was stopped once more by Professor McGonagall's voice. "And Longbottom? Please inform Mister Finnegan that the substance on the bottoms of his shoes bear a striking resemblance to the materials used for the vandalism. We wouldn't want him being falsely accused of something he took no part in, now, would we?"


	7. Elections

Neville had heard many whispers of excitement about Dumbledore's Army throughout the halls but nothing could've prepared him for the number of people in the Room of Requirement that had joined them the following Wednesday night. He was speechless when he walked in and saw the wide range of Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws, all of varying ages. Luna had told him that she and Ernie had monitored the door as people were filing in and turned away any students under the age of fourteen who had come to participate. They were all huddled in small groups composed mainly of people from the same houses. Some bore looks of curiosity, others of skepticism. Ginny, unable to stop the satisfied smile from spreading across her face, stepped around Neville to greet the crowd.

"Welcome," she said in a loud voice, causing all eyes to fall onto her, "to Dumbledore's Army." She spread her arms wide and grinned. Immediately, the tension was shattered and excited voices rose from the crowd as everyone began to clap. Jimmy Peakes and Andrew Kirke whistled through their teeth as they cheered.

"That graffiti was amazing," a fifth-year girl with thick, curly dark hair said loudly above the voices. Neville recognized her as Romilda Vane.

"Wicked," a fourth-year Ravenclaw agreed eagerly.

The original members of the DA broke into smiles as they received a wave of praise. Seamus gave a small bow to the crowd.

"Hello everyone," Neville gave a nod to the crowd once everybody had settled down. He squeezed his hands into fists to stop his fingers from shaking. "Thank you for coming. Right now a piece of parchment is being passed around for you to sign your name on if you wish to be part of the DA."

Sally Anne Perks, who was currently holding said parchment, paused, quill poised above the paper. "We aren't going to break out in boils if we sign this, are we?" She asked suspiciously.

Neville allowed a smile to play across his lips at the reference made to Marietta Edgecombe. "No, nothing like that. Marietta deserved what she got, but this paper isn't charmed."

"Then why are we signing it?" Megan Jones tentatively asked once Sally Anne had finished signing and passed her the quill and paper.

"It's your contract," Ginny spoke up with a shrug. "We ask for nothing more than your loyalty, take that as you will." Her answer settled well with the crowd and soon the paper was being shuffled from person to person.

"Well, welcome, everybody. Whether you heard about the DA from your friends or saw our messages to the school, we thank you for coming. Some of you may know us as Dumbledore's Army, which formed two years ago while Umbridge was in charge. While the namesake of our group is no longer with us, we're keeping his spirit alive. Our founders may be gone, but that's even more motivation for us to keep the DA alive. Our goal is to protect this school and, more importantly, stand up for our beliefs."

"Where is Harry Potter?" A girl who barely looked older than fourteen piped up from the front of the group.

"Did he really break into the Ministry?" Jimmy Peakes asked hopefully, referring to the headline of Daily Prophet earlier that month.

Neville gulped, for he didn't want to talk about Harry. He looked to Ginny, who was biting her lip. "We don't know for certain. But I'm sure we're all hoping that he's out there, alive and well. I'm sure that whatever he's doing right now will eventually save us."

"So what? We're just going to wait around for Potter to come back and rescue us?" Jack Sloper shouted as the crowd of people began to whisper back and forth.

"Absolutely not," Neville said icily, holding his hand out to prevent Ginny from answering. "Harry Potter's gone right now. He may not be dead, but he's not here. We're just going to have to survive without him. We've done it before and we can do it again. Right now, we don't need him." He winced at his words how harsh his words had sounded. Ginny stopped glaring at Sloper and turned her fury onto Neville. His guilt grew when he saw tears threatening to spill from the corners of her eyes.

"Who's going to lead us, then?" Ginny asked him loudly, crossing her arms.

"Neville will, of course." Parvati stepped in between them, gently tugging Ginny away from him. "He's done a fine job so far."

Neville went scarlet as murmurs of agreement sprung up. Ginny looked back and forth between him and Parvati, a surprised look on her face.

"I concur," Seamus said loudly, putting his hand up in the air. More voices joined in as the idea of Neville as a leader bounced around the room. The original members of the DA were also in agreement as they smiled at Neville and nodded. Neville watched Ginny turn her back to wipe the tears out of her eyes with her sleeve.

"Oi, everybody shut up and let our leader speak." Michael stood up and waved his arms to silence the group. "The floor is yours," he nodded at Neville.

"I appreciate your nomination, Parvati. However, I think we'd do better if each house had a leader. They would preferably be a seventh-year student who's been around for longer. I also want these leaders to be selected by their own house." He looked to a now dry-eyed Ginny, who gave him a tentative nod of respect. "This person should be a leader who embodies the values of your house."

"Well, you have my vote for Gryffindor," Seamus said, breaking the silence as people contemplated their choices. Almost immediately there were voices of the younger Gryffindors in agreement.

"Mine too," Parvati and Lavender said in unison, smiling.

Neville looked at Ginny, hoping for her blessing. Her hard expression softened and she smiled. "Congratulations, leader of Gryffindor."

"Thank you," Neville addressed the crowd as everyone clapped for him. He smiled bashfully, finally getting a taste of what it was like to be in Harry's position. "Hufflepuff is next."

The group of Hufflepuffs all shared the same surprised look on their faces as if they never expected to be given a choice. There were shared mumbles between them until Oliver Rivers stood up. "I nominate Ernie," he declared confidently. Ernie, in turn, turned a deep red that spread to his ears and down his neck.

Hannah jumped to her feet as well, her sheet of blonde hair swinging. "Well, _I_ nominate Susan," she said with her hands placed on her hips. Neville willed himself not to stare.

"Girl power!" Sally-Anne hollered in agreement, pumping her fist up in the air. Immediately, the Hufflepuffs broke out into disagreement. Susan and Ernie shared a guilty look as their house members fought. The discord caused by the Hufflepuffs sent a wave of discomfort through the rest of the students.

Finally, Ernie shouted, "Enough!" That was all it took to silence the room. He cleared his throat. "As grateful as I am by some of your nominations, I believe that Susan is far more qualified for such a position." He looked to her and smiled fondly. "After all, I wouldn't have joined if she hadn't dragged me along to the first meeting. And I'm ever so grateful that she did."

Susan turned a bright maroon and smiled widely once the surprise had worn off. "I'm honored, thank you." The Hufflepuffs cheered loudly for the blushing girl as Neville looked at the Ravenclaws expectantly. 

"I nominate Terry," Michael immediately blurted out at the exact same time Terry stated: "Michael has my vote." The two glared at each other and then laughed.

"But seriously, Mike's the best leader you'll get out of our house," Terry said, pushing Michael forward gently.

Michael turned around and punched his friend's shoulder. "I'd have to disagree, mate. You'd fare far better than me in a position of leadership."

Neville chuckled at the bickering pair. "What do the rest of you lot have to say?" He asked the rest of the Ravenclaws.

The Ravenclaws looked torn between the two nominations. Luna gently raised her hand and stood up. "No disrespect towards Michael but Terry is more level-headed. He has my vote." More voices rose from the Ravenclaws until everyone was in agreement.

"Congrats, Terry," Neville said as everyone clapped.

He smiled humbly. "I won't let you down."

"Congratulations to all of us. We've just taken a significant milestone and this is only the beginning," Neville said and was met with another round of cheers and applauding. "It's getting late now and Slytherin patrol activity will pick up in the next half hour. We should all head back to our houses."

Ginny nodded. "Agreed."

Voices of protest rose up from the crowd and Neville smiled. "We'll be meeting back here next week, same time and same place. No need to worry."

The Ravenclaws left first in groups of twos and threes. Michael, Terry, and Anthony all patted Neville on the back on their way out the door. Luna left with the last group, taking up the rear. She smiled at Neville and waved at Ginny as she passed by.

The Hufflepuffs were next as they shouted goodbyes on their way out. Hannah lingered in the back of the crowd, waving along her expectant friends. As she left with the final Hufflepuffs, she gave Neville a hug as she passed him. Her arms quickly snaked around his neck. "Thank you." She whispered before running to catch up with Susan.

Neville stood there, frozen in place as he stared after her. Lavender, Ritchie, and Seamus wolf-whistled while Parvati and Demelza giggled. Ginny laughed and linked arms with him, dragging her dumbstruck friend out the door. "Come along, loverboy."


	8. Routes

_"Depulso!"_ The stack of books flew backward, hitting the wall and falling to the ground. Neville gave an impressed thumbs up to Lydia Cooden, who had cast the spell. The fifth-year Gryffindor beamed back at him toothily.

"That was great, Lydia. Try it a couple more times and then I think you can move on to Parvati's group." Neville said, reassembling the stack for her as he tried not to yawn. He was tired, very tired. He, Susan, and Terry had snuck off late last night to sift through spellbooks in the library. After much discussion, they had come up with a list of twelve spells to begin learning at the meeting. Lots of trial and error was involved, at one point his sleeve was set on fire, but they were satisfied with their selection.

Lydia brandished her wand again and Neville looked on proudly. A couple of feet away, Parvati was leading Demelza Robins and Marcus Fenwick in learning a simple protection charm. Across the room, Michael and Terry had teamed up and were teaching a dozen members the Patronus Charm. Michael waved his wand and a silvery dolphin erupted from it, circling around Terry's already-present whale. The crowd _oohed_ and _aahed_ as the patronuses swam through the air. Susan occupied one corner of the room and was in the process of explaining _Revelio_ to a group of Ravenclaws and Gryffindors. Ernie was located in another corner, teaching his group about shield spells.

"How're we doing on time, Gin?" Neville called out, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. He turned to look at Ginny and Luna, who were watching the room with proud looks on their faces.

Ginny checked her watch and frowned slightly. "It's quarter to ten, damn. Slytherin patrols stopped at nine-thirty and they'll resume again at ten."

"Gotcha. Oi, listen up!" The activity in the Room of Requirement died down as everybody turned their eyes towards Neville and Ginny. "We're going to end tonight right now, great job everybody. We'll pick up where we left off next week. I want everybody to come to the next meeting with at least three useful spells they want to learn. Thanks for a great meeting."

Dumbledore's Army cheered. They quickly split off into small groups of twos and threes arranged by house as they had been taught to do. A wave of Ravenclaws left first. Anthony and Michael shared their goodbye with Neville before ducking out the door. The Hufflepuffs exited next in tight clusters, filing out until it was just the Gryffindors left.

"Great job, captain. See you in the morning." Ginny winked at Neville before ushering Jimmy Peakes and Natalie MacDonald out the door. Neville watched carefully as everybody slowly left the room until it was just a couple of people left. He took one last sweep of the room before muttering " _Knox_!" and leading the two Gryffindor girls in his group out the door.

"Great meeting tonight, Neville!" A pretty sixth year that he knew as Emilia Insley said brightly as the three of them walked up a staircase that would bring them to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Really? Thanks." Neville said, trying not to sound too pleased with himself. "It wasn't all me, though. I can't take all the credit."

"Well, you deserve recognition," Savannah, Alicia Spinnet's fourth-year sister, told him sweetly, her tanned cheeks flushed with excitement. "You're our new Harry Potter!"

Neville chuckled and ruffled her dark brown curls. "Thanks, Savannah. I wouldn't go as far as to say that but I'm glad that me, Terry, and Susan are filling the spot that he, Ron, and Hermione left."

"You're doing a wonderful job," Emilia assured him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "It's only been a week and I feel much more confident with my shield spells."

"That isn't Longbottom, is it?" A voice from behind them suddenly spoke up, making Neville freeze on the spot. His fear came true as he saw a foul faced Slytherin named Malcolm Baddock approaching them, flanked by two of his housemates. He recognized Goyle as one of them, the other was unknown to him but equally as mean-looking as his companions.

"You're not supposed to be lurking the halls at this hour, I may have to report you lot," Baddock sneered. His eyes darted to Emilia and Savannah, who had emerged from behind Neville cautiously. "And what's this? Having a little rendezvous, are we?"

Goyle and the other Slytherin let out hollow, goolish laughs. Neville could feel the nerves building up in his body as the trio closed in on them. He looked around subtly, hoping to find a way out.

"Who knew you had game, Longbottom? Though this one is a little young, don't you think?" Baddock clucked his tongue in disapproval and poked Savannah with his wand. The fourth-year swatted away at it angrily.

"These two had detention tonight but were nervous walking around the halls this late so Professor McGonagall told me to find them and walk them back to the Gryffindor Common Room," Neville said quickly before Savannah could let out a nettled retort. He lowered his eyes so the Slytherin couldn't see his fearful expression. He hated the fact that any member of Slytherin, from Snape to Baddock, could make him so speechless with fear. "I am a prefect, after all," he managed to choke out.

Baddock leaned in and Neville could smell his foul breath as he opened his mouth. "Your Head of House should know that only Slytherin prefects are allowed to walk the halls past nine o'clock."

"She didn't want to bother you with such a minor request," Neville lied through gritted teeth. He could sense Emilia's nervousness and Savannah's growing temper and silently willed the two of them to follow his lead.

"I don't believe that for a bloody second," Baddock barked out through a laugh. Neville winced and waited for what was going to come next. "I think these ladies here are scared of us."

"No that's not what-" Neville was stopped by a sniffle from his left. He turned to see that it had come from Emilia, who was wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her uniform.

"That's kind of you to lie for us, Neville, but you know the truth," she said breathily, allowing her curtain of blonde hair to fall across her face. "Savannah and I knew that detention would run late so we begged Neville to bring us back. Nobody knew about it but us." The three Slytherins stared at her in wonder.

Neville opened his mouth but was once again interrupted. As if done by magic, Savannah suddenly had tears running down her cheeks. "We're sorry, it won't happen again," she seamlessly added on in a blubbering voice. She looked up at the Slytherins with wide, reddened eyes.

Two of the Slytherins had suspicious glares on their faces once they had turned away from Emilia but Baddock was still grinning stupidly at her.

"We should report this to the Headmaster." Goyle murmured to the leader of the pack.

"Nonsense, Goyle. No point in reporting such an insignificant event to the Headmaster. I think these ladies have learned their lesson, haven't they?" Baddock smirked, playing with the hem of Emilia's skirt. She yanked it out of his grip with a scowl as Savannah nodded vigorously. He turned back to the other Slytherins and jerked his head down the hall. "Let's go, boys. Patrol is ending soon." He spun on his heels and walked down the hall towards the dungeons. The unknown Slytherin boy scurried after him.

Goyle yanked Neville's tie as he walked past and pulled the Gryffindor close. "Make sure this doesn't happen again Longbottom, yeah?" He hissed.

Neville nodded quickly, pulling himself out of Goyle's grip. He ushered Savannah and Emilia away from the Slytherins as quickly as they could. The three of them hastily hurried towards the Gryffindor Common Room, not speaking until they had climbed through the portrait hole.

"That was too close," Neville gasped out in relief.

"I hate Slytherins," Savannah mumbled under her breath, wiping the small beads of sweat off her forehead.

"Where'd you two learn to cry like that?" Neville demanded, turning to look at the two girls in amazement. "You were so convincing!"

Savannah and Emilia looked at each other and shrugged. "It's a girl thing," they chorused in unison. "And a Veela thing," Emilia added as an afterthought.

Neville gaped at her. "You're part Veela?" That explained the light trance she had managed to put the Slytherins under for a brief period of time. Not to mention all the heads she turned by simply walking down the hall. "You know, that could come in handy at some point." Emilia beamed, pleased with his answer.

They were interrupted by Ginny storming down the girl's dormitory staircase towards them, already wearing her dressing gown. "Where the hell have you been?" She demanded, finally reaching them and wrapping her arms around Savannah. "Your sister would've killed me if you had gotten hurt in any way." She addressed the fourth year.

"We're only a little late. It's fine, Ginny," Savannah said, her voice muffled by Ginny's shoulder. She rolled her eyes but allowed herself to be coddled nevertheless.

"We ran into a couple of Slytherins patrolling the halls," Neville explained with a frown. "We're just going to have to get better at timing the ends of meetings."

Ginny sighed, nodding. "You're right." She hooked arms with Savannah and Emilia, guiding them towards the girl's dormitories. "Come on, Vannie, Emmy, it's late. You too, Nev, get to bed."

"Yeah, I'll do that. Night girls." He waved and watched them disappear up the staircase before collapsing at a desk chair in the corner of the common room with a heavy sigh. It was too close of a call for his liking. If it was any Slytherin other than Baddock, they would've turned them into Snape for sure. He shuddered to think what Malfoy would've done. Neville was determined to make sure that an event like that would never happen again. With a plan slowly hatching in his mind, he grabbed a loose piece of parchment and a quill from the desk and began to work.

* * *

"What is this?" Parvati asked, clearly confused when Neville slapped a piece of parchment down in front of her the next morning.

"What does it look like?" Neville whispered from beside her, glancing to make sure that Alecto wasn't looking at him from her spot at the front of the room. He was relieved to see that she was sitting at her desk, paging through their awful Ministry-issued Muggle Studies textbook.

Parvati studied the paper for a little while then said decidedly, "it's a schedule, complete with routes of the castle."

"I don't want anything like last night to ever happen again, it was too close of a call. It's getting too risky, we can't get caught by the Slytherins," Neville explained.

"Neat," Seamus complimented, leaning over Neville's shoulder to peer down at the paper.

"Stop talking!" Alecto suddenly shrieked from her desk, rising up from her chair as she glared down at the trio. Neville yanked the parchment off the table and hastily shoved it into his sleeve before the professor could get her greedy hands on it. Parvati and Seamus immediately slumped in their seats, returning to working on the assignment originally given to them.

"Distracting other students, are we, Longbottom?" Alecto dismounted the platform her desk was on, not breaking eye contact with him. She walked down the aisle of desks, dragging her wand across the wooden tabletops. Immediately the parchment that the students were working on caught fire.

Lavender shrieked, batting at her flaming paper with the textbook. Seamus cursed and pulled out his wand, uttering a spell that only made the fire grow bigger. Finally, Parvati shouted _"Aguamenti!"_ and aimed her wand at her paper first, then at the fiasco that was Seamus and Lavender's desk. The pair, though doused in water, let out a simultaneous sigh of relief. Parvati turned to the professor with a furious look on her pretty face. "We weren't done with those," she said through gritted teeth, stating the obvious.

"What a pity, guess you'll have to start all over again," Alecto sneered, spinning on her heels to return to her desk. As an afterthought, she looked back at Neville. "Don't let me catch you being a distraction again, Longbottom. I was feeling nice this time. Next time it'll be your hair, not your assignment. Understand?"

"Understood," Neville muttered, averting his eyes.

"Good." Alecto spun around once more and slinked back to her desk. "You kiddies are much worse than I thought you would be. Seems like something will have to be done about that."


	9. Camera

"What's that?" Neville asked, looking up from his Potions homework as Ginny entered the Common Room the following evening. A dented, slightly damp box was tucked safely under one of her arms.

"Dunno." Ginny plopped down on the couch next to Lavender, who lifted her eyes from her homework and greeted the other girl with a tired smile. "It was delivered to me right after dinner."

"Who's it from, then?" Parvati snapped her textbook as her gaze drifted towards the box.

"Dunno," Ginny repeated as she dropped her bag down on the ground next to the couch. She shook the box slightly, much to Parvati's horror.

"Be careful!" She chastised. "It could be delicate, who knows what's in there."

"Maybe it's dangerous," Seamus said excitedly, throwing his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook aside and leaning forward in his chair. "Maybe a Death Eater sent it to you."

Parvati hit him over the head with her book. "Don't sound so excited, Seamus." She then turned back to Ginny. "He's right though, it might be dangerous."

"Only one way to find out," Ginny said cheerfully, tearing the box open and peering in. Neville and Lavender looked at each other and shrugged as they too abandoned their homework to participate in the unwrapping.

"What is it?" Seamus asked, practically bouncing in his seat. The anticipation was obviously eating away at his fragile patience.

"It's a magic camera," Lavender said, surprised, as she looked over Ginny's shoulder and down at the contents of the ruddy box.

"It looks like George's old camera," Ginny supplied, referring to the camera her brother had received for his fifteenth birthday. She shrugged and reached for it.

"Wait!" Neville yelped, grabbing her wrist before her fingers could brush against the item. "It could be cursed! Remember what happened to Katie Bell?"

"That's a little dramatic, don't you think?" Ginny asked with a roll of her eyes.

"No, it isn't," Lavender and Neville objected in unison.

"Would it make you feel better if I go get my Sneakoscope?" Ginny sighed, looking first at Lavender on her left and then Neville to her right. Neville thought for a second, then nodded reluctantly. Ginny jumped up from the couch and dumped the box into Lavender's lap, who shrieked and shoved it onto the floor. She sprinted up the girl's dormitory staircase, red hair swinging behind her.

"This seems fishy," Parvati said as she squinted at the mystery box. "Why would a mystery person send Ginny a magical camera?"

"It could've been Voldemort," Lavender said nervously. "Or Malfoy, or Lestrange, or-"

"You're worrying too much," Ginny called as she trotted back down the stairs, clutching the Sneakoscope in one hand. "All of our packages are searched before entering Hogwarts, would they really let me receive a cursed box?"

"I wouldn't put it past the Carrows," Lavender muttered as she twisted her hair in her hands.

"Alright, let's test this out." Ginny set the Sneakoscope on the floor next to the box as everybody held their breath, waiting for it to light up and spin. It stayed quiet, motionless on the carpet. Ginny looked up and grinned at them. She grabbed the camera out of the box and sat back against the couch once again.

"Well, it's not cursed." Seamus shrugged, sounding somewhat disappointed.

"There's still something weird about it," Parvati said, pulling out her wand and waving it briskly. " _Aparecium_!"

Immediately the sides of the camera fell away, revealing a smaller, older camera. "What did you do?" Ginny cried out as she stared disappointedly down at the small object in her hands.

"Just a revealing charm I swear." Parvati held up her hands in defense. "I was totally right, though, wasn't I?" She said, sounding pleased.

"Hey, I know what that is," Seamus held out his hand and Ginny passed it to him. He turned it over a couple of times in his hand. "This is a muggle camera."

"Who would send you a muggle camera? And why would they disguise it as a magic camera?" Neville frowned, taking the object away from Seamus to study it.

"I bet the Carrows would've thrown it away if they saw it was a muggle camera. You know how they feel about muggles. To answer your other question, Neville, I know exactly who sent this." Lavender grabbed the camera, recognition beaming in her eyes. "This is Colin Creevey's camera." She poked at a latch and it popped open, revealing a piece of paper.

Ginny gaped as Lavender handed her the piece of paper. "How the hell did you know that?"

Lavender rolled her eyes. "Do you know how many photoshoots I had with him over the years? I was his favorite model so I had to learn how his little camera worked at some point. He always told me that I looked like some muggle star, I can't remember her name."

"Colin," Ginny whispered, face crumpling as she opened the note with shaking hands. A wave of sadness hit Neville as he thought about the small blonde boy who would've been in the sixth year with Ginny.

Parvati seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Poor Colin," she muttered, "he's probably on the run right now. With all the other blacklisted muggleborns, no doubt."

"Ginny?" Neville asked tentatively. Tears were welling up in the ginger's eyes and she clutched the paper with white knuckles. When she had finished reading it she passed it to him silently. He took it gently and began to read aloud:

_Dear Ginny,_

_I hope this package makes it to you, it took a lot of convincing to get this girl to let me use her owl. As you may already know, I'm on the run right now with Dennis. We've been to several different safe houses, including one of your relatives'. Myrtle, I think her name was? Wretched woman she was, but it was kind of her to take us in. We had to leave our parents behind in France which was sad but it's the only way they'll be able to stay safe. I wish we were at Hogwarts with you right now but it's for the best that we aren't. I sent you my camera with a favor attached, please keep it until I can come out of hiding. I don't want anything happening to it and you're the person I trust the most to keep it safe. Use it to document what's going on at Hogwarts with Snape as Headmaster, share your story. Please don't try and write to me, I don't want you getting into any trouble with the Ministry. But I've still got my galleon so I can keep up with DA news. Don't worry too much about me and Dennis, I think that everything is going to be okay real soon._   
_Stay safe and long live Harry Potter!_

_Colin_

"Bless his heart," Lavender murmured once Neville had finished reading. "Thank God he's alive."

"I miss him so much," Ginny whimpered, wiping furiously at her eyes. Lavender wrapped her arms around her. "I wish we could help him, it's not fair that he has to go through all this."

"But we _can_ help him." Parvati leaned forward and clasped Ginny's hands in her own. "He gave you a very important job, Ginny. You have to keep his memory alive at Hogwarts while he's not around. It's like he said, he trusts you above everyone else to take care of his camera. Do you think you can do that?"

Ginny held up the camera, looking at it with watery eyes, and nodded. "I think so." A ghost of a smile appeared on her face.

"Good. Now come on, let's get you ready for bed." Parvati and Lavender helped her up from the couch and guided her towards the girl's dormitories. They bid the boys goodbye over their shoulders as they disappeared, leaving Neville and Seamus alone in the Common Room with their unfinished homework.

Seamus dragged his hand down the side of his face and sighed. "I always liked that Creevey bloke. A little pushy sometimes sure, but he had a good heart."

"It's not fair that he can't be here right now," Neville said angrily, hands clenching into fists.

"Hey." Seamus put a hand on his shoulder. "It's all going to be over soon. We'll get Colin out of hiding and things will go back to the way they were. I can assure you that if the DA can help the situation in any way then we will."

"You're right." Neville relaxed slightly. He sighed, sinking back into his armchair. "You're right, of course."


	10. Obliviate

"That's wrong, Patil!" Amycus Carrow growled for the third time that morning after Padma had made yet another feeble attempt at using the Cruciatus Curse on a shivering rabbit.

"Is it?" Padma cocked her head to the side as she peered down at the animal on her desk. Though Padma was one of the smartest students in their year and had the capability to utter the spell, Neville knew that she wouldn't do something that went against her strong moral code. So instead she chose to play dumb, acting blissfully ignorant as to why her spell wasn't working.

"You didn't even hit the damn thing," Carrow barked out, causing her to flinch slightly. His shortlived patience was completely gone as he stormed down the aisle towards her. He grabbed the hand that held her wand and pointed it directly at the poor animal. "Do it, Miss Patil. That's an order." Amycus impatiently tapped his dragon leather shoe on the floor as he looked at her expectantly.

"I can't," Padma whimpered, her previous scatterbrained attitude gone. She shook slightly, and Neville couldn't quite tell if it was from the thought of having to hurt an animal or Amycus's sheer proximity to her.

"Yes you will," he said through gritted teeth. His growing anger caused tension in the room as the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Lavender held Parvati tight to her side, who looked ready to leap up and defend her sister at any minute. In the front row, Terry and Michael also looked as if they were ready to intervene.

"It's too cruel!" Padma looked up at the professor with slightly wild eyes. "I won't do it!"

"Yes you fucking will!" Red-faced and growling, Amycus raised his hand to hit her. His hand flew through the air in slow motion but never reached its target.

" _Protego!"_ Morag MacDougal screeched from the back of the room as she leaped to her feet, thrusting her wand forward with such force that Amycus was blasted off his feet. He flew backward into one of his bookcases, causing books to drop off the shelves around him in a ring.

Terry and Michael swore under their breath in unison as Parvati jumped out of her seat to pull a shocked Padma away from the demonstration table. Morag stared at the professor's limp body with a look of horror on her face. Her arm fell limply to her side.

"Shit, Morag, I think you've killed him," Seamus gasped, hope lacing his voice as he leaned over his desk to inspect the damage. Neville, who was sitting beside him, jabbed him in the side with his elbow.

"I'm very much alive, Finnegan," Amycus wheezed as he slowly sat up, much to Seamus's disappointment. The professor waved his wand and the books jumped back onto their rightful shelves until the floor around the bookcase was completely empty. The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws held their breaths as Carrow slowly got to his feet and dusted off his dark robes with a flick of his hand. "Well, that was unexpected." Amycus looked more bewildered than angry, which surprised Neville. He made eye contact with Terry, who widened his eyes and shook his head. Neville raised an eyebrow, confused.

Amycus had begun to walk down the aisle towards Morag, who quivered under his gaze. "And where, pray tell, did you learn to do that, MacDougal? You barely talk in class, let alone cast spells with strength like that."

Neville, in any other instance, would've been extremely proud of Morag, for the shield spell she had just cast was fantastic and she had made so much improvement in her spell-casting skills since joining the DA. A thought suddenly hit him and the breath was knocked out of him as he understood Terry's nervousness. Amycus was dangerously close to finding out about Dumbledore's Army.

"I've been practicing a lot," Morag squeaked as she swayed slightly on her feet. Su Li, who was sitting beside her, pulled her down onto the bench by her robes.

"Practicing?" Amycus tapped his chin with his long wand as he drifted towards the shaking Ravenclaw girl.

"In the Common Room," Morag gasped out. "W-with Su and Terry and-"

"And why is that?" Amycus loomed over her desk. "For I don't remember teaching you any shield charms. Is my teaching so inadequate that you find the need to make your own lesson plans, MacDougal?"

"No! No, not at all," Morag cringed away from him so far back that she was leaning heavily on Su's shoulder. The other girl didn't seem to even notice, for she was so distracted by Amycus'. "You're a g-great professor."

"You're lying!" Amycus's short temper was revealed once again as he slammed his hands down on the Ravenclaw's desk. Morag shrieked and jumped back, tumbling into Su. "I know you're not practicing in the Ravenclaw Common Room, I know you're lying." Neville and Terry's wands were out in an instant and Seamus and Michael jumped to their feet, all four of them ready to restrain Amycus. Having heard them, Amycus turned around and quirked an eyebrow at the four fuming students. "Aha, I'm assuming you four have something to do with this little spell practice, then? What are you seventh years hiding?"

"Nothing," Neville said evenly, though he was shaking. They had made themselves obvious, Amycus knew that there was something going on.

"Boot? Finnegan? Corner?" Amycus addressed the other three boys one at a time, though they stayed silent and clenched their jaws. "No? Fine then." He rounded on Morag once more and grabbed her by the neck, pulling her out of her seat and down the aisle. Su let out a cry of surprise and Lavender openly gasped.

"Let go of her!" Padma and Michael shouted in unison as they watched their housemate being choked and dragged to the front of the room by the professor.

"This is what happens when students don't comply," Amycus said with a shrug that was far too casual for the situation at hand. He looked down at Morag and released her with a flick of his hand. She fell over the table, coughing and grabbing at her throat. "Maybe the Cruciatus Curse will loosen your tongue."

" _Stupefy!"_ Seamus cried as Amycus raised his wand, sending the professor flying through the air for the second time that day. He landed hard on his back next to his desk and did not move. There were sounds of benches scraping against the floor as everyone jumped up from their desks and hurried to the front of the room. Morag tumbled off the table and into Padma and Su's arms, shoulders shaking silently with dry sobs.

"Now you've done it, Seamus," Lavender whimpered as she looked down at the motionless body, clapping a hand over her mouth in shock.

"Me?" Seamus cried indignantly. "I didn't do anything wrong, he was going to Cruciate her!"

"He wouldn't have really done it," Parvati protested, then looked at Morag. "He couldn't have," she muttered in a low voice.

"What do we do now?" Michael groaned.

" _Obliviate."_ Anthony's calm voice said above the shouts, causing everyone to fall silent. A thin stream of blue magic floated from the tip of his wand and surrounded Amycus's head. The man sighed in his sleep as his short-term memory was suddenly wiped. When Anthony looked up, he was met with blank stares. And then his friends erupted.

"What the hell did you do that for, Anthony?" Su gasped, releasing Morag, who had miraculously stopped crying.

"Tony!" Michael and Terry exclaimed in unison, looking at their normally level-headed friend with shock.

"Oh shit," Lavender and Seamus muttered as their eyes grew as wide as saucers.

"Anthony?" Neville, just as shocked at the rest of his friends, turned to look at the Ravenclaw for an explanation.

Anthony huffed slightly and put his wand back in his pocket. "Oh come on, was it really that bad of an idea? He would've literally murdered Seamus once he had woken up. And do you think he would've stopped questioning Morag about the DA? He would've tortured her, and the rest of us until he found out." Michael, Terry, and Neville relaxed slightly at his explanation, but the girls were still furious.

"That's not the point though," Parvati protested. "The point is that we're no better than he is if we go around stunning professors and wiping their memories!"

"Do you even know how to do a proper memory charm?" Padma put her hands on his hips as she glared at Anthony. "What if you scrambled his memory and he's messed up for good?"

"Would that really be such a bad thing?" Seamus muttered quietly.

"Are you doubting my abilities, Pad?" Anthony asked his friend, raising an eyebrow. She glared at him and spun around, arms crossed over her chest.

"Let's all take a deep breath for a second," Terry stepped in to act as the voice of reason. "It was wrong to wipe Amycus's memory but it'll benefit us all in the long run. Let's just pretend it never happened and go on with our day." He put a hand on Anthony's shoulder, only for it to be shrugged off by the scowling, bespectacled Ravenclaw.

"But maybe we _should_ start using the memory charm more often," Seamus protested, jumping to Anthony's defense. "Amycus's lessons are cruel, why shouldn't we act out against him? If we stopped him every time he was going to hurt one of us and used a memory charm on him then no one would get hurt."

"He would! We can't very well go around hurting teachers like this!" A red-faced Parvati shrieked at Seamus, who jumped back slightly.

"I know, I'm so sorry," Morag babbled nervously, wiping her face with the sleeve of her robe. "I don't know what came over me, I shouldn't have been so impulsive."

"I was actually talking about Seamus and Anthony," the Gryffindor said, scowling in the direction of the two boys. "Amycus's going to know that something happened when he wakes up and we're all gone."

"Then let's stay here," Su spoke up. "Sit in our desks, wake him up, act as if nothing happened." Her suggestion seemed to satisfy Parvati, who had calmed down enough to nod.

"That's a great idea, Su." Lavender nodded encouragingly, seemingly glad that the dispute had been settled. "I suppose we'll have to sit him back up in his chair, though."

"Not it!" Seamus drew his wand and tapped it to his nose with a smirk. There was a mad rush as people scrambled around for their wands and mimicking the gesture. The losers of the little race were Neville, who had taken a ridiculous amount of time to tug his wand out of his pocket, and Anthony, who hadn't made any attempts at even moving. "Tough luck," Seamus whistled as he skipped over to his desk and plopped down as the rest of the group scurried back to their desks.

Anthony and Neville hovered over Amycus's body as they looked down at him in distaste. "Alright there, Anthony?" Neville asked, having noticed the boy's sour expression.

"I didn't mean to cause such a fuss," Anthony mumbled as he prodded Amycus's stunned body with the tip of his shoe. "I wanted to try to do the right thing for once, or what I thought was the right thing, I guess."

"I don't blame you," Neville said comfortingly, but he was cut off.

"Whatever, let's just get him back up in his desk." Anthony crouched down and took one of Amycus's limp arms before looking up expectantly. Neville quickly grabbed the professor's other arm and with their combined effort, they managed to haul the body back into his desk chair. Amycus fell forward, his forehead making a hollow sound as it connected with the tabletop. Seamus snickered into his hand. Neville looked up to speak to Anthony but the Ravenclaw was already spinning on his heels to return to his seat. Neville sighed but followed him, sitting down next to Seamus and pulling out his notes.

Terry, who sat in the front nearest to Amycus, looked over his shoulder at the rest of the class to see if everyone was ready. They all lifted their quills in acknowledgment and he yawned. He leaned forward, lifted his wand, and whispered, " _Rennervate!"_ As the man began to stir, Terry quickly shoved his wand into his sleeve and picked up his quill before pretending to work on an assignment.

"What's going on?" Amycus's slurred voice suddenly broke the silence, causing all pairs of eyes to turn their attention to the front of the room. He pushed himself up by his elbows as he looked around with droopy eyes. "What happened?"

Neville put on an innocent face. "Why, you fell asleep, Professor. And a pity it was that you did, the lesson you were teaching was ever so interesting." Amycus blinked owlishly, rubbing his reddening forehead.

"We would've woken you but you were just saying earlier how tired you were," Michael chimed in as he stroked the quill in his hand. "So we decided to start working on the homework you had assigned at the beginning of class."

Seamus looked down at his watch and tsked. "I would've loved to have seen the Cruciatus Curse in action but unfortunately class is over, what a bummer. See you later, Professor." He gathered his things and got up out of his desk as the rest of the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws hurried to get up and file out of the room. "Get some sleep tonight, Professor," Seamus, the last to leave, said with a wink as he closed the door on the confused professor.


	11. Quidditch

"Harry taught us ways to defend ourselves." Neville clapped his hands as he paced in front of the younger DA members who stared up at him with shining eyes. "Umbridge taught us to obey the Ministry. Now Carrow is here and he is teaching us how to use dark magic against each other." He took a deep breath and looked around. "I think we can all agree that his tactics are inhumane and meant to turn us against each other."

"You can say that again," Michael called from the back of the room. He clapped Terry's shoulder and made his way up to the front. "Which is why we need to learn the best ways to protect ourselves. Now, who's ready to learn a correct shield spell?" He grinned as he was met with cheers from the eager fourth and fifth years. "Morag? Care to demonstrate?" Morag MacDougal beamed as she rose to join him.

"Things are going well," Neville said, approaching Ginny as Morag and Michael began their demonstration. She and Demelza were sitting together on the floor, leaning up against the wall as they watched the presentation from a distance.

Ginny looked up from fiddling with Colin's camera and smiled. "They sure are. Smile!" She held up the camera and snapped a photo with swift speed, briefly showing off her chaser reflexes.

"I wasn't ready for my close up!" Neville cried jokingly, hiding his face. Since receiving the camera, Ginny had brought it everywhere over the past couple of weeks. Though never having been a fan of having his picture taken, as his grandmother could attest to, Neville caved every time Ginny asked him. It had gotten to a point over the week where she had stopped asking him and simply shoved the camera into his face.

Ginny peered down at the camera and scowled slightly. "Bloody hell, Neville, it's blurry!"

"Find another model then!" He practically begged.

"Fine, then. Mel?" Without waiting for a response, Ginny whipped the camera towards Demelza and snapped a photo.

Blinking and rubbing her eyes, Demelza looked up at Neville. "I can see why you wanted out," Neville smirked and nodded.

"Hey Nev, Demelza had a really great idea," Ginny said, putting a blushing Demelza on the spot. She set the camera down in her lap and nudged her friend with her shoulder.

"Alright, let's hear it," Neville nodded, looking down at Demelza expectantly.

"Way to put me on the spot," Demelza complained, shoving Ginny gently. "I was just telling blabbermouth here how great it would be if we could get a game of Quidditch going. Don't get me wrong, these meetings have been doing wonders to lift our spirits but it's not quite the same. Ritchie and I were talking yesterday about how much we miss Quidditch, and I'm sure the younger students do too."

"Quidditch?" Neville asked, as if the thought had never crossed his mind. Which, of course, it hadn't.

"I know Snape banned it," Demelza quickly said before Neville could really answer. "So forget I said anything, it's too much of a danger anyway." She hid behind her dark curtain of hair embarrassedly.

"I think it's a great idea," Neville said quickly before she could sink further back into the wall.

"Really?" Ginny and Demelza asked in unison, both looking at him with equally wide eyes. Demelza pushed herself off of the wall and leaned forward hopefully.

"Yeah, why not? People need something to look forward to."

"We'll be very careful," Ginny promised as she clasped Demelza's hands with her own.

"We'll definitely need to scout out the Quidditch Pitch but it's far enough away from the castle that I think it should be fine," Neville said as he mulled the idea over in his mind. He made a mental note to ask Anthony or one of the Ravenclaws about concealing spells.

"We could have the rest of the team distract the Carrows and Snape," Demelza eagerly pitched in.

"That won't be too hard convincing people to cause trouble, everybody's itching to make some mischief," Ginny smirked as she looked around the room. "I'll break into the broom cupboard and steal us some brooms."

"Yeah, that should be good," Neville said decidedly and smiled. "Brilliant idea, Mel, tell Coote I said so too."

* * *

The next evening, Neville ushered about a dozen students out a back exit of the castle. They clutched their brooms tightly in their hands as they scurried down the hill, following Ginny who was in the lead. Michael and Terry winked at Neville as they took up the rear, carrying the box of Quidditch equipment between the two of them. Neville cast one last look over his shoulder to make sure nobody was watching before following after the Ravenclaw seventh years. The single-file line raced down the hill and beelined straight towards the Quidditch pitch.

"You're a champ for doing this, Nev," Seamus complimented, having hung back to wait for Neville to catch up.

"We all need a little bit of happiness right about now," Neville said with a shrug, though he allowed himself to grin quickly. He felt his pocket heating up and reached into it to grab his galleon and read the message. _Carrows busy with detention, you're in the clear - Susan._ Almost immediately, another message replaced it. _Snape distracted, good to go - Luna._

Neville smiled down at the galleon in satisfaction and pocketed it. Thanks to the combined brainpower of Padma, Terry, and Anthony, the galleons were up and running with new improvements. People were able to send private messages, both of the ones Neville had received being private, as well as ones to all galleon owners. More galleons were charmed and given to new members, allowing them to participate in the message-sending.

Ahead of them, Ginny was already unlocking the Gryffindor locker room door. Though Snape had ordered the stadium doors to be boarded up, the locker rooms were still able to be opened thanks to the key Ginny had swiped from Harry the previous year. That same key was also used to unlock a closet stuffed with brooms on the second floor of the castle.

The door swung open and Ginny led everyone inside. Neville, having never been involved with Quidditch, was surprised to see how spacious and nicely furnished the locker room was. Even in the dim light, the lockers were shining a deep red color. He noted the wistful expression on the former Gryffindor team members' faces.

Jimmy Peakes marched up to one particular locker and waved his wand, causing the door to fly open with force. He peered inside and grinned, pulling out a faded Weasley's Wizard Wheezes box. "Knew I left this in here!" He slipped the dusty box into his pocket before closing the locker.

"It smells just like it used to," Ritchie Coote muttered under his breath, stopping briefly to run his hand along one of the wooden benches. Demelza hooked her finger around his belt loop, gently pulling him along with her.

"This is probably the closest we'll ever come to making the Quidditch team, eh?" Seamus nudged Neville as they walked past the crimson lockers at the rear of the group. Neville had opted to bring Seamus, a self-proclaimed Quidditch enthusiast, to accompany him on the ground while the others played.

"I think I'd injure myself if I picked up a beater's bat," Neville admitted, causing Seamus to snort into his sleeve. They were the last two to file out of the locker room and onto the pitch itself. The protection spells he and Susan had cast the previous day created a glossy bubble around the stadium, preventing anyone on the outside from seeing the action inside. He looked at the wide, grassy field and metal hoops with mild interest. The stands were draped in faded house banners of red, yellow, blue, and green. It looked like a Quidditch pitch to him, nothing special. But seeing his friends' faces, it was magical to them. And he couldn't help but smile.

Ginny glowed as she slowly turned in a circle, taking in the empty Quidditch stadium with her eyes. She swung an arm around a wide-eyed Savannah Spinnet who beamed and clutched onto the older girl. Demelza came up beside them and Ginny's free arm immediately snaked around her shoulders. Ritchie let out a loud whoop as he raced across the pitch with a laughing Peakes on his back. Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper chased after them, equally loud and grinning. Ernie wrapped his arms around Maxine O'Flaherty and Owen Cauldwell as the three of them looked around in wonder. Megan Jones took to the air on her broom, grinning as she made lazy loops. Michael ruffled Marcus Fenwick's hair and the two of them bent over to help Terry with the chest of equipment.

"Line up, teams!" Seamus's loud voice echoed across the grassy lawn, causing the players to snap out of their stupor.

Demelza, Maxine, Megan, Jack, Michael, and Andrew all made their way over to Ernie while Ritchie, Terry, Owen, Marcus, Savannah, and Jimmy stood behind Ginny. Michael blew a kiss to Terry, who snatched it out of the air and held it close to his heart with a wink.

"Captains, shake hands," Seamus commanded, crossing his arms over his chest. Ernie and Ginny marched up to each other and grabbed hands. Ernie winced in surprise as he felt his fingers slowly being crushed. He looked at Ginny and gulped slightly at the fiery look burning in her eyes. She raised an eyebrow and smirked, daring him to flinch. His eyes narrowed.

"Players, mount your brooms!" Seamus shouted as Neville hurried towards the edge of the pitch to avoid the flurry of brooms. The fourteen players mounted their brooms and slowly floated into the air. Jack was practically buzzing with excitement and his broom quivered slightly. With a grin, Seamus kicked the chest open, letting the bludgers and snitch loose. They flew high into the air with a whoosh. The seekers, Megan and Marcus, watched the snitch disappear into the air with hungry eyes. Seamus bent down and gingerly lifted the quaffle into the air, took a deep breath, and threw it straight upwards with all his strength. And choreographed chaos ensued.

Owen, Demelza, and Maxine immediately shot forward, eyes on the quaffle, but it was Ginny who got it in the end. With one arm, she snatched the ball away from the other chasers and sped off through the air, cackling. She elegantly dodged a bludger sent her way by Jack and tossed the quaffle to Terry who shot past her in the other direction with Michael hot on his tail. Terry whipped the ball through one of the shorter hoops before Ernie could block it.

"And Team Weasley scores! Atta boy, Boot!" Seamus shouted through his cupped hands from beside Neville. Terry saluted him as he flew overhead.

"I didn't even know Terry played," Neville noted as he watched the Ravenclaw pretend to knock Michael off his broom.

"Heard Katie taught him a thing or two," Seamus said with a smirk. That comment jogged Neville's memory as he remembered that Terry had, in fact, dated Katie Bell for a brief period of time in his fifth year.

"Guess the same could be said for Michael," Neville joked back.

"Ginny would never share her Quidditch secrets, not even with her boyfriend," Seamus objected and Neville had to agree.

Up in the air, Ernie had retrieved the quaffle and tossed it to Maxine who dove downwards to avoid Owen. She clutched the ball to her side as she gained speed. Ginny suddenly appeared in her path and she launched it right at Ginny, much to the ginger's surprise. Before she could catch it, Demelza flew up from under her and plucked the ball out of the air. Andrew and Jack flanked her as she flew towards the hoops, knocking bludgers away with determined concentration as she tossed the quaffle. As it went flying towards the hoops, Savannah appeared out of nowhere and knocked the ball away with the tail of her broom, earning her cheers from Marcus and Ginny. The fourth-year beamed in a familiar way and Neville realized that he had seen that same smile on her sister's face only a couple of years ago.

"Man, I've missed this," Seamus said with a content sigh as he gazed up at the cloudless sky.

"Me too," Neville admitted. He had always enjoyed Quidditch, even after his first-year broom mishap that resulted in him being sent to the Hospital Wing. He had never missed a game, despite the fact that the thought of riding a broom made him sick to his stomach after his little accident. Watching the game above them made him suddenly wish Harry was there, flying through the air with the rest of his friends. Though Neville would never admit it aloud, leading Dumbledore's Army exhausted him. He was physically and mentally tired all the time and spent countless nights awake, worrying about the fate of his friend, those at Hogwarts, and those absent. It was easier with Harry here, he thought to himself somewhat selfishly.

"Wish Lee Jordan was here to give us some killer commentary." Seamus's voice brought Neville out of his melancholy thoughts. He blinked and nodded at his expectant friend with a quick smile and turned his attention back to the game.

Ginny had just completed an impressive dive that got Michael off her tail. She threw him a grin over her shoulder before high fiving Owen, who passed by her as he chased after Demelza. Michael, who was a cousin of the Spinnett girls, flew past the goal hoops and stuck his tongue out at Savannah, who returned the gesture immediately. The sound of a beater bat cracking against a bludger made Neville think about how he missed seeing the brilliance of the Weasley twins on the pitch. But the smile on Peakes's face and the twinkle in Coote's eyes nearly made up for it.

"The snitch!" Seamus suddenly yelled, pointing at a golden streak high in the air. He didn't need to announce it, though, for Megan and Marcus were already zooming after it.

Neville found himself yelling along with Seamus and the other players as the two seekers raced each other neck-and-neck. He was suddenly distracted from the game as a noise in the background caught his attention. He stopped shouting and turned around, staring at the wooden walls of the stadium from which he was nearly positive he had heard the snapping of wooden boards. "Do you hear that?" He whispered to Seamus, craning his neck to listen to what he thought he heard.

"Nah, mate, you're mental," Seamus muttered, ignoring what Neville had said as he watched Megan and Marcus race each other through the air, arms outstretched as the golden ball danced away from their fingertips.

But Neville felt his stomach twist, he knew that something was wrong. He left Seamus's side and walked cautiously towards the edge of the stadium, worry building inside of him. At that moment, he wished that Susan and her super-hearing were there with him.

"And Fenwick has caught the snitch, Team Weasley wins!" Seamus shouted as Marcus clutched the small ball and pumped his fist in the air, his dark face bright with excitement. His team raced through the air towards him and surrounded him, screaming with joy as they rubbed their knuckles into his curly hair.

The sound that Neville had previously heard was growing louder, suddenly catching Seamus's attention. "Mate, I hear it too," he said, worry etching his voice.

"Something's wrong," Neville muttered, brandishing his wand as his stomach turned.

"Oi, Ginny! Ernie!" Seamus bellowed, turning around and waving his arms in the air to catch the Quidditch players' attention. Ernie, Ginny, Megan, Terry, Ritchie, and Michael all landed immediately, their smiles turning into expressions of confusion.

"What is it?" Ginny asked as she hurried towards them, her smile falling from her face. She then looked to Neville, who was standing completely still with his wand outstretched. "Nev?"

All the previous smiles were gone and people had gone silent as they shared nervous looks with one another. Demelza, Marcus, Peakes, Kirke, and Maxine all touched down on the ground, hanging back behind the others as they clutched their brooms anxiously. Neville held up a hand as he stared at the wall. He barely had time to dive out of the way, yelling for the others to take cover, as a voice from the other side roared, " _Confringo!"_

Ernie, Ritchie, and Ginny were tossed to the side by the impact of the explosion while Terry, Seamus, and Megan flew backward, hitting the grass hard.

"What the-?" Jack began to say, mouth agape. The dust settled, revealing the glowering faces of several Slytherins, a scowling Theodore Nott at the head of the pack.

"A little birdie told me that some blood traitors were breaking the rules," the large Slytherin said in a low voice as he stepped through the rubble and into the stadium. The Dumbledore's Army members picked themselves up off the ground and slowly backed away from the approaching Slytherin. "Quidditch isn't allowed, it isn't allowed at all. So what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Playing Quidditch?" Seamus offered unhelpfully as he subtly pushed Peakes behind himself.

Clearly unimpressed, Nott raised his wand and hit Seamus with a spell that sent the Gryffindor screaming to the ground, clutching his stomach. "Let's try that again, Finnegan. What were you doing here?"

"Breaking the rules," Seamus wheezed as he twitched on the ground.

"Breaking the rules," Nott repeated, a mean smirk twisting across his mouth. Ginny and Terry rushed forward and dragged Seamus up off the ground, slinging his arms around their shoulders. He moaned as his head lolled against Terry's shoulder.

"Was that really necessary?" Neville asked, his voice only wavering slightly.

Nott got up so close to him that Neville could smell his foul breath. "Rulebreakers get punished, that's just the way it goes." It was in that moment that Neville wished that Emilia Insley and her hypnotic abilities were there with them.

"We forgot it violated the rules, we didn't mean to cause any trouble. It was just a friendly match, why don't you all join us?" Ernie said in an overly cheerful voice, opting for a technique of flattery. "Slytherin has always been the hardest team to beat."

His flattery, however, didn't go over well. With a curl of his lip, Nott turned to the Slytherins behind him and gave a single nod. Three of them robotically raised their wands and aimed them at the three players still in the air, blasting their brooms. They fell towards the ground with screams of terror.

Michael dove to break Savannah's fall and the two collided, falling to the ground in a pile of sprawling limbs. Megan and Ernie had whipped their wands out with impeccable speed and managed to catch Owen and Jack with a conjoined cry of, " _Wingardium Leviosa!"_ The pair stopped screaming as they gently floated down to the ground.

"Are you mad?" Neville rounded on Nott, all traces of nervousness gone as his face grew red with anger. His blood was boiling.

"No, you are," Nott said simply before grabbing him by the arm. "Round them up, we're taking them to the Headmaster," he instructed the other Slytherins, who immediately dispersed and herded the other students out of the Quidditch stadium.

"This is ludicrous," Ernie protested, all traces of amenity gone as Malcolm Baddock roughly pushed him and Michael through the wreckage.

"Let us go!" Michael snarled, thrashing in Baddock's strong arms. He watched as Pansy Parkinson dragged Savannah and Marcus away by their collars and his anger intensified. "Hey, leave them alone!"

Demelza and Megan wriggled in Millicent Bulstrode's grip as she pulled them up the hill. Demelza threw a tearful glance over her shoulder at Ginny, who was being dragged by her hair by Daphne Greengrass. Trying not to bump into Ritchie beside her, Ginny shook her head at Demelza, rejecting her apology with fierce eyes.

After much objection and crude manhandling that resulted in a red handprint across Michael's cheek, Neville and his friends found themselves packed into Snape's office with the Slytherins breathing down their necks. Seamus, who was still feeling the effects of Nott's curse, lay sprawled out on the carpet where Crabbe had crudely dropped him.

"Quidditch, you say?" The Headmaster asked in his usual monotonous voice. Neville scowled at Malfoy, who was hovering at Snape's shoulder behind the desk.

"Yes, sir," Nott puffed his chest out as he addressed the Headmaster in a pompous manner. "Heard a young Ravenclaw whispering about it in the halls. Ackerly. Had to beat it out of him but we got the information we needed."

"How dare you!" Terry growled as he struggled to free himself from Goyle. "He's barely fourteen!"

"Silence, Boot," Snape held up a hand, a bored look on his face. "That is of no importance. And who, do tell, was responsible for this little rendezvous on the pitch?"

Ginny grabbed Demelza's hand before she could raise it, startling the brunette. She then immediately kicked Ritchie, who had begun to raise his hand. He turned around to glare at Ginny, who glared back harder.

"Blame me," Neville and Terry, ever the selfless ones, said in unison.

"Don't listen to them," Ritchie immediately objected, trying to free his robes from Daphne's iron fists. "Don't!"

"Mister Coote?" Snape drawled, accentuating the last syllable of the name. All eyes were suddenly on the tall black boy, who tried not to fidget under their gaze.

"It was my idea," Ritchie said firmly, ignoring Demelza and Ginny's protests from behind them. "I planted the idea, blame me. I wanted to be back on a broom and I forced the rest of them to join me, they had nothing to do with it."

"He's lying," Neville said fiercely in an attempt to protect the younger Gryffindor. "I made everyone go."

"Malfoy?" Snape turned to the blonde boy for answers.

Not making eye contact with anyone, Malfoy muttered, "Longbottom couldn't lift a beater bat if he tried."

"Hey, that's what you said," Seamus said half-heartedly to Neville from the floor, tapping on his friend's shoe with his finger.

"Very well, then. Crabbe, Goyle, take Mister Coote to Mister Carrow, I'm sure he will need your assistance in the punishment." Crabbe and Goyle abandoned their captives and took hold of Ritchie.

"NO!" Demelza screamed and thrashed, attempting to free herself as Ritchie was dragged past her and out the door. Tears streamed down her face as she continued to scream. An angry Millicent Bulstrode slapped her hand over the crying girl's mouth. Demelza struggled in her grip before going limp, staring hollowly at the door that Ritchie had disappeared from.

"As for the rest of you rule-breakers, you will be serving detention with Madame Carrow tonight. One thousand lines for each of you should help the lesson…sink in."

"You're cruel," Neville spat as his eyes met Snape's empty one.

Snape simply quirked his lip and said, "Dismissed."

Once released from the Slytherin's clutches, Neville and Seamus herded the younger Gryffindors out of the Headmaster's office and down the halls. Ginny wrapped her arm around Demelza and muttered comforting words into her ear as she pulled her along. Jack and Andrew were cracking halfhearted jokes in an attempt to make Savannah smile. But the joking soon died down and the group became silent.

Parvati looked up from her place curled up next to the fire and smiled when the eight of them walked into the Common Room. She snapped her book shut and leaned forward. "How'd the match go?"

She was met with silence.


	12. Dissent

Neville, Terry, and Susan attempted to keep the DA on a tight leash following the events of the Quidditch match that led to Ritchie Coote being shut up in the Hospital Wing for a full week. News of the Carrows' use of the Cruciatus Curse on him spread like wildfire throughout the school and everybody, even some Slytherins, were growing warier of the Carrows by the day. The rest of the Quidditch players plus Neville and Seamus went to their week's worth of detention and served their punishment, each night returning from Alecto Carrow's classroom with blood running down their arms and tears trickling down their cheeks. They visited Ritchie in the Hospital Wing but the sight of his bruised face and battered body made them sick to their stomachs.

Neville tried getting the kids to focus their attention on schoolwork but it was becoming more and more difficult. The news of Ritchie Coote's punishment caused Gryffindor house to explode. Despite their best efforts, Neville and the oldest Gryffindors could not keep the younger students from lashing out. On Monday, Jack Sloper and Milo Erickson set off a bonanza of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes fireworks in Alecto Carrow's classroom that the professor tried and failed to get rid of. Nigel Wolpert and Jimmy Peakes, just fourth-years, stood up to Amycus Carrow as they passed him in the hall on Tuesday, resulting in the professor screaming at them as they scampered away. They made use of the Gregory Smarmy secret passage and stayed there for nearly an hour, until they were sure that Carrow and the Slytherins weren't around, before sprinting off to the Room of Requirement. Romilda Vane snuck off Tuesday night with Lydia Cooden and the two of them added to the graffiti already decking the walls. They merely smiled at Neville when he had asked about the paint smears on their robes.

Susan told him that Mick McManus and Aggie Burton of Hufflepuff had both accused Amycus Carrow of child abuse in their respective Dark Arts classes, resulting in slaps to the face and detentions for both of them. Unlike Romilda and Lydia, who had managed to vandalize the school without getting caught, Owen Cauldwell was found late one night by the Slytherin patrol with spray paint in his hands. He was dragged off to detention and returned to the Hufflepuff Common Room with a bruising face. The Ravenclaws had remained fairly quiet, Terry reported, although he noted that several of the younger students had gotten detention for speaking out of turn in class and challenging Slytherin prefects.

It seemed as though Dumbledore's Army had turned from a defense group into one of rebellion in the span of a week. Neville wasn't quite sure how to feel about it, for the fact that younger students were putting themselves in harm's way worried him greatly. And attitudes were shifting even amongst the older students, he had noticed. Ginny and Seamus were more vocal than ever in the Carrows' classes and they spoke often of "teaching Snape a lesson". Their behavior only further added to Neville's stress.

Snape himself hadn't commented at all on the Carrows' cruel methods, despite the fact that the other Heads of House were horrified. Neville had heard that Sprout, McGonagall, and Flitwick had marched up to the Headmaster's office demanding that he stop the Carrows from harming students. Snape had, however, merely stated calmly that the Carrows were perfectly capable of handling detentions without his input. Hogwarts had most certainly turned into a madhouse in the span of several weeks. With Snape and the Carrows replacing Dumbledore and the Golden Trio, students were itching to start a rebellion. The graffiti didn't seem like enough, they wanted to make the Death Eaters pay.

Andrew Kirke's body was found in an empty corridor Wednesday night by Terry, Padma, and Luna, who were late to a DA meeting for the older students. They nearly tripped over the Korean boy, whose face was beaten practically beyond recognition. Instead of bringing him to the Hospital Wing, they brought him directly to the Room of Requirement. Parvati and Susan had set up a makeshift healing station in one corner of the room complete with a couch and a small shelf of potions due to the influx of minor injuries that week. Megan Jones was the one who had opened the door for them. She shrieked at the sight of a shaking Padma, an unconscious Andrew, and a panting Terry and Luna.

Her scream had caused the sixth and seventh years to drop what they were doing and turn their attention towards the doorway. Lavender and Mick McManus, who had been engaged in a mutual flirting war for the past two weeks, halted their conversation, their mouths dropping open at the sight in the doorway. The game of Exploding Snap that Michael had started up with Marcus, Milo, and Ernie was immediately forgotten as they craned their necks to see what the commotion was. Su Li, Susan, and Etta dropped their wands as their hands drifted to their mouths in horror.

"Oh, God," Hannah breathed out, her face going pale as the Ravenclaws tumbled through the door, Kirke supported between two of them.

"Bring him here," Parvati gasped, immediately leaping to her feet to guide her flustered twin towards the corner of the room decked out with healing supplies.

"We found him over by the Prefect's Bathroom," Luna choked out as she and Terry eased the injured Gryffindor onto the couch and stepped back as Parvati and Susan swarmed around him. "I thought that perhaps it could've been an attack by an Umgubular Slashkilter but the bruise patterns are more similar to ones created by human hands."

Morag, Lavender, and Hannah gasped at Luna's last comment and Seamus swore under his breath.

"We think it was the Slytherins," Terry told a shocked Ginny and Neville, his blue eyes burning with anger as Jack Sloper and Milo Erickson stumbled over to the couch to be by Kirke's side. "Goyle has been known to wear a skull ring."

"He didn't!" Ginny gasped furiously. She marched up to the couch and peered down at Kirke from over Susan and Parvati's shoulders as they worked quickly. Sure enough, a red skull imprint was visible under his smooth left cheekbone. "That's foul!"

"Teachers and students hurting children," Hannah muttered into her hands, peeking through her fingers to look at the injured Gryffindor. Her normally mellow face was contorted into a pained expression. "It's absurd."

"I'll kill Goyle," Seamus hissed threateningly, jumping to his feet as he cracked his knuckles. "I'll kill him!"

"Get in line," Jack Sloper growled, pushing himself up off the floor and striding across the room. He rolled up his sleeves as he walked, revealing his thick biceps.

Lavender held the two boys both back by their shirt collars as they moved towards the doorway. "Oh no you don't, we don't need any people getting beaten up by those monsters."

As if on cue, Sally-Anne Perks entered the Room of Requirement, wearing a bloodied lip and a scowl on her face. She attempted to hide her mouth with her sleeve but gave up when she noticed that all eyes were already on her. "Wotcher," she greeted in a lackluster voice, letting her arm drop to her side.

"What happened?" Megan gasped as she rushed forward to greet her friend. She tilted Sally-Anne's chin back to get a better look at the damage.

"Leave it alone, Meggie," the blonde muttered, swatting half-heartedly away at her friend's obtrusive hands. "I'm fine."

"What happened?" Megan repeated the question in a stern voice.

"Got yelled at by she-devil Carrow for wearing "muggle shoes"," Sally-Anne said, lifting up the hem of her robes to reveal a pair of sneakers. Neville recognized the white cap toe and laces, they indeed were muggle shoes. Covners, or something of the sort.

"So where'd the split lip come from, then?" Seamus asked, his previous anger suddenly forgotten as he stared curiously at the two girls.

"I told her that if she tried out muggle fashion then she might finally get some male attention, not that she deserved any," Sally-Anne said with a toss of her chin.

"Sally-Anne!" Hannah gasped at the same time Susan cried, "You didn't!" The pair of Hufflepuffs stared at their housemate in horror.

"No way," Anthony swore as Terry and Michael attempted to hide their snickers.

"Nice," Oliver Rivers, a Hufflepuff seventh year, grinned, reaching out to fistbump Sally-Anne. He was immediately elbowed by a scowling Megan.

"Don't encourage her," she chastised him angrily.

Seamus stared at Sally-Anne with newfound respect. "Badass," he complimented. Megan shot him a glare and he looked away guiltily.

Ernie came up beside Neville and let out a long sigh. "I can't see any more Hufflepuffs injured," he told Neville in a low voice, shaking his head. "I just can't, it feels so wrong. Sally-Anne can take care of herself, she's of age, but I draw the line when Owen comes back with a bruised face. He's a _fourth-year._ "

"What do we do about this?" Susan whispered as she, Lavender, and Hannah joined Neville and Ernie. Su Li had offered to take her place at the healing station, which she had accepted gratefullly. Her pale skin made the dark circles under her eyes even more prominent and Neville guessed that she, like Ernie, was practically worrying herself to death. "It's not their fault that they're rebelling, it's a natural response to such dire living conditions."

"This dictatorship needs to be overthrown," Michael Corner rubbed at his face wearily as he and Anthony walked over, Anthony looking quite apprehensive.

Neville looked around the room. Michael and Oliver Rivers both had growing black eyes. Ginny's cut lip wasn't all that different from the one Sally-Anne sported. Jack Sloper and Seamus both had their biceps exposed by their rolled-up sleeves, revealing deep cuts from the Carrows' detention on their arms. Susan, Padma, and Terry all looked ready to collapse from exhaustion at any moment. Not a single sixth or seventh year looked as if they had had a good night's sleep in weeks. "We can't keep going on like this," he muttered under his breath.

Ginny heard his comment and turned to look at him with raised eyebrows. "Like what?"

"Like this!" Neville gestured around the room at their weary friends. His gaze landed on Andrew Kirke, who had just begun to stir, and his frustration intensified. "We can't keep letting people get hurt like this, it's wrong!"

"I don't think any of us necessarily want this," Ginny said, pointing at her busted lip. "We don't exactly enjoy pain, you know."

"Then stop acting out! Stop making yourselves targets!"

"Neville mate," Michael mumbled, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Let's not go around saying things we regret, yeah?"

"He's not wrong, though," Anthony muttered as Neville shrugged Michael's hand off angrily.

"We're standing up for what we believe in," Ginny said hotly. Her arms instinctively crossed over her chest, indicating that she was getting defensive. The move didn't go unnoticed by Neville and he wished for a fleeting moment that Demelza, who was probably with Ritchie in the Hospital Wing, was there to calm her down. But the moment was indeed fleeting, and his fury returned.

"You're being reckless!" He shouted, his voice echoing off the walls. The two of them were practically nose-to-nose, breathing heavily.

"No, we're not!" Ginny screeched, her red face practically matching her long hair.

"Yes you are!" Neville bellowed. "Reckless and stupid!"

"I hate to interrupt but I think we should take Andrew to the Hospital Wing," a soft voice suddenly spoke up. The fuming Gryffindors turned to look at Parvati and Su, who stared at them nervously. In fact, the whole room was gaping at the pair with shocked expressions. Several people looked at the Gryffindors with sad eyes while others looked torn.

Neville's face immediately softened as he turned his attention to Andrew and away from Ginny. "Is he-" he began to say.

"He's going to be fine," Parvati reassured him. "I just think that Madam Pomfrey's healing potion supply will do him some good. Terry and Mick are going to brew up some healing potions tomorrow but for now, he should go to the Hospital Wing."

"I'll take him," Ginny said with a huff, tossing her red hair. Her shoulder clipped Neville's roughly as she stormed over to the couch. Milo immediately leaped to his feet to assist her and the two of them gently eased Kirke off the couch and into a standing position, causing the fifth-year to whimper slightly. They guided him across the room and towards the door. Before they left, Ginny turned around and looked at Neville with angry eyes. "We're not being reckless, we're being brave. And maybe you don't see it that way because you're a coward." With that, she spun back around and marched out the door with Milo and Andrew.

The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Jack Sloper finally broke the silence. "I suppose you think Coote is a reckless idiot too, then?" He asked angrily, his cheeks flushed red with anger. He glared at Neville before running out the door to catch up with Ginny. Etta McKinnon and Marcus Fenwick quickly followed after Sloper, shaking their heads as they passed Neville.

Neville's face dropped. "No, I-" he began to say as he helplessly watched others leave.

"Screw that, I'm with the ginger," Sally-Anne muttered as made her way to the door with Oliver. Megan quietly trailed after them, more out of loyalty to Sally-Anne than anything. Mick McManus breezed past him, looking back over his shoulder at Lavender with a questioning look. Her lip trembled but she stood her ground and stayed by Neville.

"I hate when Mum and Dad fight," Neville could hear Seamus mutter, earning him jabs on either side from Lavender and Susan. The room was silent.

"That was uncalled for," Michael sighed, looking at Neville with disapproval.

"Don't blame me!" Neville choked out in a shocked voice. "She's the one who's wrong, not me!" He suddenly felt something on his chest and looked down to see a small but firm hand pressed against his chest. It belonged to Luna.

"That's enough, Neville," she said tightly. Her normally soft face suddenly seemed hard. "I think you've said enough tonight." He began to protest but she merely shook her head and made her way to the door.

"Luna," Neville began in a hurt voice as she passed him, but the blonde cut him off.

"I'm not taking sides, Neville, I'm going to bed," she said in a gentle voice. "And I think you should do the same."

Neville stared after her until her blonde head disappeared through the doorway. He turned around, still breathing heavily, to look at the remaining members. "Well?" He asked expectantly. Nobody could meet his eyes except for Hannah. Her eyes were full of sadness and something else. Disappointment.

And that made his heart break even more.


	13. Acid Pop

"Can anyone tell me about Halloween?" Alecto Carrow asked in her scratchy voice that sounded not much different than nails on a chalkboard. She looked around the room at the group of sixth-year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws expectantly and was met with silence. Ginny, in a foul mood from her fight with Neville the previous night, crossed her arms and ignored the professor's question. Instead, she chose to shoot a glance at Luna, who was sitting across the aisle from her, humming softly under her breath. Behind her, Jack Sloper gazed out the window, no doubt daydreaming about Quidditch as he hummed quietly under his breath Ritchie Coote, who had finally been released from the Hospital Wing, sat next to Jack and avoided the professor's harsh eyes, still probably shaken up from his detention. Marcus Fenwick and Etta McKinnon attempted to pay attention to the lesson while Milo Erickson and Emilia Insley sat in front of Ginny, doodling absent-mindedly on their parchment. A couple of other Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were scattered around the room and Ginny counted their heads, concluding that their class totaled fifteen students. "Sloper!" Alecto suddenly shouted, causing the brunette boy to snap out of his stupor and look up at her in surprise. "Halloween. Explain."

"Uh," Jack, who was known to love any type of attention except when it was coming from a teacher, fidgeted in his seat uncomfortably. "It's a holiday." Ginny looked at Demelza, who was sitting to her right, and the two girls snickered quietly at his answer.

"Elaborate, Sloper," Alecto sighed, rolling her eyes. Ginny could tell that she was beginning to regret calling on him and smirked, silently praising Jack's stupidity.

"Oh yeah, of course." Jack cleared his throat. "It's a holiday that happens on the 29th-no wait! It happens on October 31st, yeah, the 31st. Which is actually today, I guess. Ha, that's a coincidence…" He ducked under his desk suddenly as Alecto's textbook went flying at his face. It landed on the desk belonging to Aileen Dorshey, who was sitting behind Jack, causing her to let out a surprised squeak.

"I'm surprised she was willing to part with that bloody book," Ginny muttered to Demelza, for Alecto religiously preached the words of the Ministry-issued Muggle Studies textbook. Her textbook was practically glued to her left hand at all times.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for your incompetence." Judging by her docking points, Alecto had certainly not forgotten the fireworks that Jack and Milo had set off the other day. She swept across the room to his desk and snatched the book off of Aileen's desk and promptly whacked him across the back of the head. "Redeem yourself, Sloper, who celebrates it?" She continued to pester Jack, who winced as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Wizards and Muggles," Marcus Fenwick quickly chimed in before Jack could butcher his answer any further.

"Thank you, Fenwick," Alecto perked up at the dark-skinned Ravenclaw's answer and nodded eagerly, forgetting Jack completely. She flipped open the textbook she was carrying under her arm and began to read off of a dog-eared page as she strutted to the front of the classroom. "Halloween has been a Wizarding holiday for centuries that Muggles have stolen and appropriated-"

"That's not true!" Milo Erickson immediately protested. His American accent still hadn't worn off, despite the fact that he had lived in Lancaster for nearly seven years.

"Who's the teacher here, Erickson?" Alecto turned her steely gaze to the Gryffindor, who didn't flinch. His lip did quiver, though, and it did not go unnoticed by Alecto. She gave him a cold smirk, indicating that she certainly hadn't forgiven him for the fireworks. "That's right, I am."

"Then why are you reading from a textbook instead of actually teaching?" Ginny asked through a snort, unable to keep her mouth shut any longer. It came out louder than she had intended, but she didn't really care.

"Because this textbook is Ministry approved," Alecto said, obviously not answering the question. Ginny knew the answer, though. The she-Carrow kept her nose in the textbook throughout the class because she didn't know anything except for the lies that were whispered in her ear by the Death Eaters. She lacked brains but made up for it with brutal force, despite her short, squat figure. Ginny and Seamus had come to the conclusion, after much discussion, that the Carrows were a package deal and Alecto was the freebie of the pair.

"The textbooks are blarmy, though," Ginny could hear Ritchie mumble from behind her, quiet enough to slip past the professor's attention.

"Halloween is a Wizarding World holiday that dates back to the Era of Purebloods." Alecto read from the textbook, ignoring the side-chatter and continuing on with her twisted lesson. "It is a festival of wizarding tradition that emphasizes the importance of purebloodedness."

"Can you believe she actually believes this batshit?" Ginny hissed to Demelza, earning a warning look from her brunette friend.

"I think of Halloween more as a celebration of wizarding culture by Muggles," Etta McKinnon, a Ravenclaw in the DA, immediately objected. She hadn't even bothered to raise her hand, which Ginny took note of. After five years of being classmates with the Ravenclaw, Etta had always reminded Ginny of Hermione in the way she answered questions with fervent eagerness and a raised hand. One of her friends, Claire Hotchkiss, gave her a warning nudge but Etta ignored it.

"Care to repeat that, McKinnon?" Alecto drawled with a raised eyebrow. Etta's eyes widened as the teacher approached her. "No? Pity, I have always been told that Ravenclaws stand by what they say. I guess that's a lie, then." She cast her eyes on the rest of the Ravenclaws expectantly. "Any other wild opinions?"

"I agree with Etta, it's quite a beautiful celebration of culture," Luna bobbed her head, causing her radish earrings to swing back and forth. "I've been told that Muggle children receive candy from their neighbors on Halloween Night, which is quite sweet if you ask me."

"Oh!" Demelza and Ginny looked at each other with wide eyes as they were struck with a moment of clarity. Ginny's hand drifted down towards her robes, for Lavender had slipped an acid pop into her pocket that morning with a wink. It must've been in honor of Halloween, for Lavender often spoke of her Muggle side of the family. The rusting noise followed by the crinkling of wrappers coming from behind her told Ginny that Ritchie and Jack had come to the same understanding.

"Candy?" Alecto snorted, rolling the word around in her mouth as if it was dirty. " _Candy?_ Who do those foul creatures think they are-"

"Muggles are _not_ foul creatures, they're people just like us," Marcus said hotly, earning him nervous glances from the Ravenclaws who weren't in the DA. Ginny quietly applauded the Ravenclaw's courage and shot him a respectful nod.

"Those evil creatures are making a joke of our sacred tradition!" Alecto raged on, holding up a finger to indicate that Marcus should stop talking. Her hand was shaking in anger.

"And you're making a joke of Hogwarts tradition," Ginny burst out, no longer able to contain her growing rage. The way that Alecto talked about Muggles made her sick to her stomach.

"Excuse me, Weasley?" Alecto hissed, training her snakelike eyes on Ginny.

"Beating up your students? Teaching us all these bullshit lies that the Ministry tells you? It's honestly embarrassing to the integrity of Hogwarts."

"That's enough of that," Alecto said in a calm voice that reminded Ginny too much of Umbridge for her liking. "Now why don't you just apologize and we can go on with the lesson?"

"No," Ginny said with a toss of her chin. She held herself high, not giving into Alecto's steely glare. The room was eerily quiet at that point. Emilia and Milo had turned completely around in their seats to look at Ginny. The acid pop that Jack had finally managed to unwrap had fallen out of his mouth and onto his desk. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Harlow Moss and Emir Batwell shaking their heads while Levi Urness simply gawked at her. Luna did nothing to stop her, she merely blinked at her with her big blue eyes, waiting for Ginny's next move.

"Ginny, please," Demelza begged from beside her, breaking the deathly silence. She tugged on Ginny's long sleeve desperately.

"I won't apologize to that wretch!" Ginny tore her sleeve out of Demelza's shaky grasp and looked at her friend with fiery eyes. From behind her, she could hear Aileen and Liesel Drake let out loud gasps, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Gin," Ritchie muttered quietly, but she ignored him.

The cool smile that was present on Alecto's face for the duration of class had completely vanished and was replaced with a foul sneer. "I don't take disrespect lightly, Weasley."

"Well, neither do I, Carrow."

"That's no way to speak to a professor." The professor snapped her beloved textbook shut, which was the moment Ginny knew that she was in trouble.

But rather than stopping there, Ginny continued. "Well, it's a good thing that you barely count as one."

The wand was whipped out of the professor's sleeve before Ginny could process it. " _Crucio!"_

And Ginny was suddenly writing on the floor, experiencing the worst pain she had ever felt.

* * *

"...Hospital Wing…"

"...get Neville…"

"...never seen something so awful…"

"I hope she's okay."

"Go, Sloper! Go get Neville!"

The frantic voices around her brought Ginny back to reality. A person with soft, callous-less palms held her hand, Luna. Another person with a gentle touch who smelled of rosemary stroked her hair, Demelza. Her drowsiness began to fade away, replaced with aching, throbbing pain. She gasped at the feeling, jerking herself out of her friends' hands as a spasm of pain shot through her body. Tears stung her eyes as she processed how her body felt. It was as if every bone in her body had been pulled in different directions, leaving a horrible feeling of pain behind.

"Try not to move," a soothing voice advised her. Ritchie. Of course it was Ritchie giving her advice, for he had been through the same punishment only a week prior.

"Hurts," Ginny croaked out, pawing at her throat and then her torso before letting her hands drop to her sides. She twitched on the ground, crying out in agony.

"Lie still," came his response. And she obeyed. As her vision came back into focus, Ginny could make out Etta, Milo, Ritchie, Marcus, and Emilia huddled over her. Sloper had obviously gone to get Neville while the rest of the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws had seemingly bolted. That caused something inside her stomach to twist, how easily her classmates had left her. Even Aileen, with whom she had shared a dorm with for over five years, was very obviously absent. Demelza must've known where her mind was going because her tentative smile dropped and she opened her mouth.

"Where's Carrow?" Ginny growled, blinking back tears before Demelza could speak.

"Left," Emilia said morosely, playing with the tips of her long blonde hair. "Said it was her lunch break and that we better get you out of here before her next class starts."

"Sounds like a t-typical Death Eater response," Ginny gasped.

Milo let out a short, surprised laugh, obviously relieved that she was still her normal self. "Merlin. You scared us half to death, Weasley."

"No death jokes right now, Erickson," she responded through gritted teeth, trying to glare at him from her position on the floor. He laughed again, shaking his head fondly.

"That was reckless, Ginny," Luna sighed, peering down at her with an expression somewhere between sorrowful and proud. "Reckless and-"

"Brave?" Ginny supplied somewhat hopefully, earning soft chuckles from Etta and Emilia.

Luna thought about it for a second then smiled tentatively and nodded. "Yes, and brave."

"Gin?" A new voice suddenly spoke up from the doorway. Neville. Ginny tried to sit up to get a look at him but Luna and Demelza held her down gently. His worried face suddenly appeared in her line of vision and she let out a choked laugh at how his eyebrows nearly met in the middle. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better," she said, attempting to shrug which only resulted in more pain, causing her to gasp.

Jack Sloper's dumbstruck face suddenly appeared at Neville's shoulder. He made a face at the sight of Ginny on the ground. "Damn, Weasley."

"Go away," Ginny groaned, causing him to smirk and hold up his hands in surrender as he backed away.

"Come on, guys, let's go to lunch," Ritchie suddenly spoke up, tossing his head in the general direction of the door. "I think we should give them some privacy."

"Ritchie," Ginny began to say, her face twisting into a guilty expression. For Ritchie had warned her. He knew how awful it was and he tried to prevent her from getting hurt. But she had been blinded by her anger and wouldn't shut her mouth. Ritchie had faced the Cruciatus Curse because he took the blame for the Quidditch match in order to point the blame away from the others. She knew how badly it had scarred him but she forced him to indirectly experience it for a second time. "I'm sor-"

But Ritchie merely shook his head and gave her a tight smile, causing her to fall silent. "You know now," he said simply. "Let's go, you lot." Demelza immediately began to protest at the prospect of leaving Ginny's side but he pulled her up off the ground with ease and guided her towards the door. Etta, Marcus, Milo, Jack, and Emilia all joined them, looking somewhat reluctant at leaving Ginny. She winked at them to tell them it was okay and they loosened up, waving at her as they exited out the door and into the hall.

Ginny snagged Luna by her sleeve as she moved to get up. "Stay."

"Really?" Luna asked unsurely, her eyes darting back and forth between Ginny and Neville.

"Of course," Ginny said with a small frown. "Why wouldn't we?"

Luna shook her head and merely smiled, settling back down beside Ginny and taking her hand once again. Neville dropped to his knees heavily and looked down at Ginny with sad eyes, causing her to scowl. "Spit it out, Neville. You're disappointed, I know. You're mad, you're furious, you're-"

"Sorry," Neville blurted out, causing her to pause, mouth opened in shock. "So, so sorry, Ginny. For yelling at you last night, for dictating the DA's mission, for being an arsehole." Ginny and Luna looked at each other in surprise and then back at Neville. "The truth is, you're right. I've been a lousy leader, it's you who truly embodies the values of the DA. You're the heart of this operation, Gin, I can't stamp out your fire."

"Oh." Ginny was dumbstruck by his words. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes but she blinked rapidly to get rid of them.

"I've been so concerned with keeping people safe that I've forgotten what the DA is about. It's about defending and standing up for ourselves. And that's not always going to be safe thing to do, that's just the reality of it." Neville sighed, looking down at his hands.

"If you try and hold us back, we're only gonna want to lash out more," Ginny said, gentler than usual. "These people are evil, they deserve our wrath. We know the consequences, we're not dumb."

Neville nodded rapidly. "I know, I know. It's just that your mother practically begged me to watch over you that day I picked you up for the train station."

"Of course she did," Ginny groaned, rolling her eyes.

"I think I took that order a little too seriously," Neville chucked wearily, running a hand through his hair. "The truth is, Gin, you've done a fine job of taking care of yourself. Until now, that is. I managed to get out of Sloper that you had a yelling match with Alecto. He was still pissed at me for last night's little debacle so he wasn't exactly keen on talking to me."

"Sloper is a vengeful bloke. And yeah, I guess I had this one coming," Ginny sighed, looking down at her arms and legs. Luna tsked, pulling Ginny's head gently onto her lap as she began to stroke her long, red hair. "So what does this mean then?"

"It means we're going to give the Carrows hell," Neville said with such confidence that Ginny and Luna gawked at him.

"Do you think Neville got bitten by a Dabberblimp?" Ginny whispered loudly to Luna.

"Probably a Snabberwitch, Dabberblimps are known to be toothless," Luna whispered back. The two of them stared at Neville. "Do you really mean it, Neville?"

"I do," Neville nodded enthusiastically. "Harry's coming back but we don't know when, and that could take a really long time. In the meantime, we need to survive on our own in the best ways we know how to. Besides, someone once told me that rebellion is needed in times like these." He smirked to himself as he repeated Professor McGonagall's words.

"Whoever said that was wise as fuck," Ginny declared.

"Ginny!" Luna giggled at her friend's response.

"So what, then?" Ginny pushed herself up off the ground and into a sitting position with Luna's assistance. She looked into Neville's eyes. "You're just gonna give us free reign of the castle? Let us do whatever we please with no interference?"

"No," Neville responded and Ginny threw up her arms in annoyance. She gasped in pain at the sudden movement and quickly lowered her arms.

"What do you have planned?" Luna asked him somewhat suspiciously as she studied his face. "You've got something brewing, I know it."

"Indeed I do," Neville said with a grin, tapping the side of his nose. "It's a little plan that Terry, Susan, and I have in the works. I'll fill you in on our way to the Room of Requirement."

"The Room of Requirement?" Ginny asked, puzzled as Neville got to his feet and held out a hand, pulling Luna up.

"I sent Parvati to meet us there," Neville explained as he and Luna gently lifted Ginny into a standing position.

Ginny groaned as she put her arms around their shoulders. "Oh great, you're sending me right into Mother Parvati's wrath," she complained. "Don't tell me Lavender's there too." Neville smiled sheepishly and she groaned a second time. "Oh great, another person to chastise me."

"They mean well, they're simply concerned for your safety," Neville chastised her. "Seamus is fetching Mick McManus to brew you up a pain potion, too."

"Music to my ears," Ginny sighed, allowing Luna and Neville to support her weight. The three of them staggered towards the door.

"Did I mention how sorry I was?"

"Can it, Longbottom. Now tell us about this plan of yours."


	14. Brothers at Arms

The next Dumbledore's Army meeting had perfect attendance, not one of the thirty-some members was missing. Though the Room of Requirement was large and forgiving with its space, it seemed as if everyone was constantly knocking against each other as they squished together in the front of the room. Neville felt jittery as he clutched an important piece of parchment in his hand. He fidgeted in his spot at the front of the room, wondering if the plan he had come up with was actually a good idea or not. But he convinced himself that it was as his eyes found the fresh cuts on a fair amount of the attendees' arms and the growing bruises on their faces. As the crowd began to quiet, Neville handed the parchment to Luna and stood up to address the group.

"Glad to see we haven't lost anyone yet," he said with a wry smile as the tittering voices died down. "Especially with the way you lot have been acting, it's a miracle the Carrows haven't killed us yet." That elicited a smattering of chuckles, including Seamus, Ginny, and Ritchie, who had dealt with Carrows' crude violence firsthand. "What we're about to discuss might change your mind about being part of this group, but we hope it'll only make you want to be in Dumbledore's Army more." He glanced back at Susan and Terry, who gave him encouraging smiles, and Ginny, who nodded firmly. "We're beginning to realize how dangerous our mission to teach and protect is, and we're also realizing that our mission is changing a bit. Not only are we here to learn, but we're also here to stand up for ourselves and protect our school. It's dangerous defying the Carrows and Snape but honestly, everything is dangerous these days. Rebellion is needed in times like these," Neville repeated McGonagall's words once again and was met with a flood of cheers, causing him to grin. Some of the members that had walked out on him the previous night, including Jack Sloper, nodded at him out of respect. He returned the gesture.

"Standing up for our beliefs, however, has become a dangerous mission. The Slytherins and Carrows are out to get us and they're out for blood. Last month, me and two other Gryffindors ran into some Slytherins on our way back to our house from a meeting. Our little graffiti stunt in the first weeks back nearly led to us getting caught by Carrows. And I know that many of you have been taking actions in your own ways this week that have led to injuries and detention. It's honestly inevitable that we'll be punished, but we want to expel at least a little bit of that danger if we can."

"Hence our introduction of house partnerships," Susan stepped in, joining Neville at his side. "Each of you will receive a partner from another house. This is someone who you will learn to trust with your life and will become your brother or sister in battle."

"Trust with your life?" Nigel Wolpert repeated.

"In _battle?"_ Su Li gasped, a shocked expression on her face.

"Whether you know it or not, Harry _will_ be back. We don't know when and we don't know how, but he's not gonna leave us here. And when he does come, there's a high chance that he'll bring whatever evil he's running from with him." Susan elbowed Neville and gave him a warning look.

"I thought Hogwarts was supposed to be safe from the war," a small Hufflepuff Neville recognized as Penny Sutton whimpered.

Neville's face softened as he suddenly began to regret the harshness of his words. "Hogwarts _is_ safe, but only to an extent. But war leaves no stones unturned, trust me," he muttered the last part as his thoughts briefly drifted to his parents, locked away in St. Mungo's. He shook his head and continued to speak. "So yes, the war will probably reach Hogwarts at some point, which is why we need to be ready for it. We're going to train long and hard so we can protect our school."

"And speaking of protecting our school," Terry said as he joined the other two house leaders at the front of the room. "That's our main objective right now. Only we aren't talking about protecting it from outside forces, we're talking about the Carrows, the Slytherins, and Snape."

"Our objective is dangerous, there are so many places where things could go wrong. Which is why we're asking this of you. These house partnerships will create meaningful alliances that will get us through the school year and will do well to help us when the war reaches us."

"But what does that _mean?_ " Sally-Anne Perks groaned. "This house partnership blarmy, what _is_ it?"

"Any guesses?" Neville asked the group, looking down at the members expectantly. The room was silent as people stared back at him, some with thoughtful expressions and others with blank ones.

Finally, Stewart Ackerley, a fourth-year Ravenclaw, raised his hand timidly. "You aren't talking about an Unbreakable Vow, are you?" He asked, his voice cracking slightly.

Neville nodded curtly. "That's exactly what we're talking about."

Excited whispers broke out amongst the large crowd. Some students looked uneasy while others appeared to be intrigued as they leaned forward, eager for more information.

"Don't you think that's a little extreme?" Romilda Vane asked loudly, always one to make sure her voice was heard. She was sitting on the windowsill, arms crossed and looking skeptical. "We're not soldiers, we're just kids." Several voices rose in agreement.

"No, I don't." Neville shook his head coolly. "In my fifth year, Hermione Granger had the members sign a piece of parchment, kind of like a contract. And as some of you may remember, Marietta Edgecomb, a sixth year Ravenclaw at the time, broke the promise that came along with signing that contract. Needless to say, her skin has never been the same." A few seventh years snickered, remembering the SNEAK branded witch. "But that was back when we were all a bunch of kids who wanted to learn about new spells. This year, it's serious. We're fighting for our lives here, and we aren't kids anymore. There is a war out there, and it's going to reach Hogwarts sooner or later. We aren't safe here and we sure as hell aren't safe out there."

"An Unbreakable Vow is a promise to stay loyal, it's not a death contract unless you make it one," Terry added in his placid voice.

"Dumbledore's Army isn't a club of teenagers who simply covers their school with graffiti, we are fighting for our rights and are standing up for what we believe in. So anyone who isn't ready for this kind of commitment," Neville gestured to the door, "I ask you to please leave."

His heart swelled with pride when not a single student made any movement to leave. "We're not asking you to jump into this Unbreakable Vow right away, but we also can't have you waiting until you're best friends. Maybe you two hit it off right away, maybe you realize that you're opposites. I don't care, I'm looking for confidence, not compatibility. A vow like this comes with the responsibility of trust. When you and your partner are ready for that commitment, come to me, Susan, or Terry. We'll bond you when the time is right." He gestured to himself and the other house leaders. "Your partner might be an acquaintance, or it could be someone you don't know. Hell, this might be the first time you've ever heard their name. But we want coalition and we want you to learn to trust. Are you ready for this?" He asked and was met with a chorus of _"yeses"._ Neville looked to Luna, who immediately stepped forward. She accepted the piece of parchment he offered to her and began to read.

"Andrew Kirke, Wayne Hopkins. Penny Sutton, Orla Quirke. Seamus Finnegan, Terry Boot. Hannah Abbott, Demelza Robins. Sally-Anne Perks, Lavender Brown. Anthony Goldstein, Ritchie Coote. Emilia Insley, Morag MacDougal. Stewart Ackerley, Nigel Wolpert. Padma Patil, Lydia Cooden..."

Ginny came to stand in between Susan and Neville and the trio looked on in admiration, watching the room rearrange as people went to find their partners.

Ginny smiled and squeezed his arm. "You did great, Neville." She then excused herself to go find Megan Jones. The petite, black witch greeted her with an eager smile.

"It's a brilliant idea, really," Susan said with a nod as she complimented him. "I don't know how you ever thought of it, but it was brilliant. Hannah was right, you're the perfect replacement for Harry." Su Li waved at her from the other side of the room and she waved back. "That's my cue to leave," she said, stepping off the raised platform. Neville watched her go, smiling slightly at the compliment she had relayed from Hannah. He searched through the crowd for the blonde Hufflepuff and found her shaking Demelza's hand as she introduced herself.

Neville felt a tap on his shoulder. He tore his eyes away from Hannah and turned around to see Ernie Macmillan standing behind him. "It looks like we're partners," the blonde boy stated.

Neville smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I heard. That's great."

Ernie hesitantly returned the smile. "I know that I have a pretty big track record of questioning you Gryffindors on...everything, but I just wanted you to know that I have no doubts about where my loyalty lies with the DA."

"I don't need convincing Ernie, you've proven your loyalty on several occasions," Neville said with a chuckle. "But I'm still glad to hear you say it." Neville extended his hand and Ernie shook it gratefully.

"I must say you made a convincing speech up there a little bit ago." The Hufflepuff cocked his head to the side. "I myself was pretty skeptical about the Unbreakable Vow idea but I'm already sold on it."

"It's a big commitment," Neville admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "But it's really more a pact of loyalty than a vow."

"Well put. Now, as for our own Unbreakable Vow-" Ernie began.

"Let's wait," Neville spoke up quickly, cutting the Hufflepuff off. "At least for a little bit. I want to get to know you better," he said honestly.

"Chap," Ernie clapped his shoulder, "I was thinking the exact same thing."

Neville smiled and returned the gesture. He then turned his attention back to the room and raised his voice. "Alright, you lot, listen up!" The chattering slowly died down as people turned their attention back to him. "We want to use these partnerships to the best of our ability. If you're out late at night trying to avoid some Slytherins, if you're running away from the Carrows, if your dormitory is too far away and you need to be somewhere safe, if you can't make it to the Hospital Wing, you and your partner should go to the closest common room of the two that you can. I know that the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw common room locations are pretty spread out. I don't want any of you walking to your room alone, not when it's the Slytherins that are on patrol. So use whatever means you can to be safe and communicate with your house leader on your galleons, which you all should have received at this point. Use invisibility cloaks, charms, I don't care, just stay safe. We've learned in the past that you can get into another house's common room if a person of that house lets you in willingly."

"So you're saying that we get to use other houses' dormitories and common rooms?" Romilda asked hopefully from her spot next to a Ravenclaw named Magdalene Bernard.

"If necessary, yes," Neville replied, nodding. "This strategy got Terry and Seamus out of trouble a couple of weeks ago."

"Wicked," Romilda grinned cunningly, her teeth glinting in the candlelight as she looked at Magdalene. "I always wanted to see the other dormitories."

Neville allowed himself to grin. "Only if necessary, Romilda, don't abuse this power. I've going to talk with McGonagall and see if she, Flitwick, and Sprout are willing to cover for us as best they can. After all, we're all on the same side."

Everyone looked slightly shocked at the news of the other professors helping them. Then Padma began to clap suddenly, a bright twinkle evident in her eyes. Anthony and Terry joined her, as did the rest of the Ravenclaws. The whole room had broken into applause, causing Neville to grin. He shouted over the applause that the meeting was dismissed. He felt a sort of joy seeing the light in people's eyes as they passed by him and out the door. Terry and Seamus came up to him and pulled him to the side away from the stream of people.

"Bond us, will you, mate?" Seamus asked as he and Terry rolled up their sleeves.

"Of course," Neville nodded. He looked at Ernie. "I'll catch you later, mate." Ernie nodded and ran off to join up with Susan and Hannah. Neville let his eyes drift to Hannah's swaying blonde hair for a moment. He had found himself doing that a lot lately, perhaps just because it was such a nice color of golden yellow. He shook his head before turning back to his friends. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"Do your magic." Seamus nodded towards Neville's wand.


	15. Potterwatch

Ginny couldn't help but smile as she made her way to the DA meeting that night. Things were going well, really well. The past week, which Seamus had so snarkily named "Friendship Week," had almost completely broken down house barriers. Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws alike were causing mayhem for Filch, the Carrows, and the Slytherins. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Bubble Machines were set up in nearly every hallway, modified to attack Slytherin passersby with a bubble barrage. Fanged Frisbees had been charmed to fly through the halls. The Carrows had received Nose-Biting Teacups at nearly every meal, much to their displeasure. The fifth-year DA members had been instructed to release Weather-In-a-Bottle in the Carrows' classrooms, which they so did with gusto. And, as if scared by their actions, Snape had spent most of the week locked away in his office. Though Ginny knew it would be naive to assume that he was scared of them, perhaps they had had some effect on him. It seemed as if everything was right with the world. The Carrows were suffering, the DA was growing stronger, and house partnerships were seemingly successful.

Some pairs had hit it off immediately, like fourth-years Jimmy Peakes and Owen Cauldwell, who were practically inseparable within a couple of days. They reminded Ginny of the twins with their cheeky grins and mischievous eyes. The display they pulled off with the Dungbombs on Monday in the second-floor boy's bathroom would've made Fred and George weep with pride.

Romilda Vane and Magdalene Bernard were another successful pairing. Magdalene's cool, level-headedness balanced out Romilda's bold, vivacious nature. They truly were two halves of a whole, and their minds worked brilliantly together. All of Romilda's apprehension about the Unbreakable Vow had seemingly vanished, for she and Magdalene had gone to Neville on Tuesday and asked to be bonded.

There were some pairings that weren't as strong as Neville and Ginny would've liked. Marcus Fenwick moaned to Ginny and Terry about how "thick'' and "simple-minded" Oliver Rivers was at dinner one night. Likewise, the seventh year Hufflepuff complained to Susan and Ernie in Charms class about the Ravenclaw's "stuck-up attitude" and his "lack of the concept of fun."

Lavender and Sally-Anne Perks were another pair that didn't quite mesh. Sally-Anne sneered at Lavender's "loopy" fascination with Divination while Lavender was irked at Sally-Anne's blunt personality. Ginny had a hunch, however, that the two girls were more alike than they realized. After her breakup with Ron, Lavender became a big fan of preaching about feminism to anyone who would listen. And Sally-Anne was just about the perfect example of an "outspoken woman," or so Megan had told Ginny. Ginny and Neville were quickly growing fond of their Hufflepuff counterparts. Megan Jones was kind with a wicked competitive streak that reminded Ginny of Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet and Neville had told her brightly one morning that Ernie Macmillan was "actually a pretty good bloke."

Things were changing at Hogwarts and, for once, it was going their way. It was nice to see Hufflepuffs becoming more daring, Ravenclaws more caring, Gryffindors more perceptive. Breakfast that morning had been a flurry of different colored ties at the three tables. Terry and Morag plopped themselves down at the Gryffindor table to sit with Seamus and Emilia while Demelza and Milo joined Hannah and Mick at one of the Hufflepuff benches. Savannah Spinnet and Maxine O'Flaherty giggled at an inside joke as they buttered their toast while Lydia Cooden and Padma Patil poured over the Daily Prophet together. The Carrows glared down at the disorder from their place at the staff table and continuously shot Snape confused glances. The Headmaster either hadn't noticed the mixed up tables or chose to ignore it. He stared into space, completely unaware of the Carrows' distress. Alecto's eyes found Ginny and they narrowed. Ginny had simply responded with a cheeky smile and raised her goblet of pumpkin juice in the air.

When Ginny entered the Room of Requirement for the meeting that night, she was surprised to see everyone crammed in a small huddle in the center of the room instead of their usual spread out positions sitting on the floor and leaning against the walls. Even Romilda, who wouldn't for the life of her follow the crowds because she was "too independent for that blarney," was peering over Andrew Kirke's shoulder with rapt attention as she whispered furiously in Magdalene's ear.

"What's going on here?" Ginny asked, bemused as she studied her surroundings. Instead of the room being divided into its usual three groupings by house, members of all houses were scattered randomly around the room. She gently pushed her way through the crowd to get a look at what was the center of attention.

"Give us a minute." An excited Seamus was crouched next to a huge wooden wireless radio that had been provided by the Room of Requirement, fiddling with its knobs. Jack Sloper was hunched over next to him and Anthony Goldstein knelt on his other side.

"A radio?" Ginny said in surprise as she studied the item. "Can I ask what you're doing?" She raised an eyebrow, taking in the excited faces surrounding her, and decided that she was definitely missing something.

Jack looked up and shook his head sadly. "Oh, Ginny. I thought that you of all people would know," he said in a fake patronizing voice. Ginny snorted and gave him a light shove, causing him to topple over and sprawl out next to the radio. "Ouch! Dammit, Weasley!"

"Bugger off, Sloper. What's going on?"

"I'm getting something here," Anthony announced loudly, interrupting the interrogation. His ear was pressed snug against the radio, causing his glasses to go slightly lopsided on his face. After twiddling with one last knob, he muttered, " _Gideon._ "

Ginny's surprise at hearing her dead uncle's name was short-lived, replaced with wonder as the radio crackled and came to life. A cheer rose up from the crowd as people craned their necks to listen. Ginny found herself joining in on the excitement, though she didn't know why. She turned to Neville in confusion and he held up a finger, indicating for her to wait. Luna pulled her to her side, grinning happily. A muffled voice rose up from the radio.

" _...hard for people to tune in but we appreciate the patience. Welcome back to another episode of Potterwatch, your new favorite news source. We provide a candidly correct take on the political climate and, most importantly, all things Harry Potter."_

"No way." A smile crept onto Ginny's face at the introduction. Several other faces in the crowd also lit up with understanding.

"Oh, yes." Seamus's eyes glittered playfully. "Neat, huh?"

"Very."

" _I'm your host, River. Joining me tonight are some special guests that I'm sure you'll all enjoy."_

"Wait, is that Lee?" Ginny asked suddenly, recognizing the cheeky tone of voice almost immediately. She listened closely, nearly certain that it was the twins' friend talking on the radio.

"Blimey!" Demelza grinned, looking up from her spot in between Ritchie and Hannah. "It really is Lee, isn't it?"

" _But before that, we've got some reports on deaths not mentioned by any other news source. Former Auror and Hogwarts professor Alastor Moody's body has just been recovered by the Order of the Phoenix-"_

Ginny gasped, gripping Luna's arm. Moody's death hadn't crossed her mind in months but the reminder of his death suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks. Bill and Lupin had been unable to recover Moody's body so there was never a proper funeral like he deserved to have.

" _...found to have been missing his famous magic eye. His close friends and companions are relieved to have retrieved the body. In other news, Daven Jones has been found dead in his Inner London home. His wife, Hestia Jones, is nowhere to be found and is presumably on the run with her sister, the famous Gwenog Jones."_ At that, Megan let out a little moan as she collapsed into Sally-Anne, who held up her friend by wrapping a tight arm around her waist. Ginny's eyes drooped in sorrow as she stared at Megan, who had only just told her the other day about the status of her aunts and uncle. " _We wish the Jones sisters safe travels and hope they find refuge quickly. A Muggle family of four was found dead last week in Perth. Cause of death is unknown, but the Dark Mark was found hanging over their house. Now if you'll please join us in a minute of silence to honor these victims of war…"_

The Room of Requirement immediately went silent as everyone's heads immediately dropped. Ginny saw some people take their neighbor's hand while others simply closed their eyes. She took Luna's hand and squeezed it. Her friend, eyes squeezed shut, returned the gesture.

" _...thank you. Let us never forget these victims. It's their legacy we're looking to protect. Now, onto other news. Muggles in the Wizarding World are in immense danger thanks to the oppressive Ministry of Magic, which is infested with corrupt Death Eaters. Our usual correspondent for this segment, Royal, was sadly unable to be here tonight. But no need to fret, we've found him a couple of temporary replacements perfectly equipped for the job. Care to introduce yourselves, chaps?"_

" _Thanks, River. Hello listeners, the name's Rebel and it's an honor to be here."_

"Bill!" Ginny suddenly shrieked, nearly falling over in shock when she heard the voice of "Rebel". She pointed at the radio and looked around the room wildly. "That's my brother! It's Bill!"

" _Wow, what an introduction! Wotcher, folks. Call me Rocket. These times are incredibly tough for Muggleborns. The Ministry's Muggleborn Registration Commission has been set up to strip witches and wizards of their dignity, their rights, and their wands. Their philosophy is as follows: Muggleborns have somehow "stolen" magic and must be forced to go on trial to prove their innocence. It's inhumane and altogether a great sizzling pile of dragon bogies."_

Luna tugged on Ginny's sleeve and smiled at her with twinkling eyes. "Tonks." Several other people snickered at the "dragon bogies" comment.

Ginny continued to listen to "Rocket" and nodded at Luna, a smile spreading across her lips as she envisioned the pink-haired witch. The chipper and profane voice of Tonks was so easily distinguishable.

" _A large number of safe houses have been set up in the past six months as a response to the Ministry's new laws,"_ Bill continued. " _The Order of the Phoenix is working hard to transport Muggleborns around this network of safe houses, and they've had marvelous success so far. As of tonight, all people currently housed in the Southwark safehouse are being transported to a new location, more details to come when we learn more."_ A couple of people gasped, for several DA members had family members traveling around London safe houses. Maxine O'Flaherty swayed on her feet slightly, her face pale and wan. Terry Boot clenched Michael's hand so tightly that his knuckles were white. Wayne Hopkins ran a hand down the side of his face, exhaling shakily.

" _To slightly alter the famous words of Albus Dumbledore, help is always nearby to those in need,_ " Tonks chimed in optimistically. " _One need only ask. There are a lot of enemies out there, but there are also allies as well."_

" _So to everybody out there on the run, please know that the Order of the Phoenix is fighting for you. We stand with you and we will protect you,"_ Bill said confidently.

"Bill isn't the one who got married this summer, is he, Gin?" Romilda asked innocently as she tossed her hair over one shoulder. "Because that was bloody sexy as hell."

"Romilda," Magdalene groaned, facepalming. Ginny snickered and shrugged helplessly at Romilda, causing the younger girl to huff and stick out her bottom lip.

" _A huge thank you to Rocket and Rebel for filling in for Royal this week, you two were brilliant. We hope to have you on Potterwatch again soon."_ Lee said, applauding them over the radio. Several other people whooped in the background of the studio and Ginny briefly wondered who else was there. For oftentimes wherever Lee Jordan was, the twins wouldn't be far behind.

" _Of course, thanks for having us, River."_ Bill responded smoothly at the same time Tonks called out, " _Where's my paycheck, then?"_ Several people giggled at her last comment.

" _Now it's time for the crowd favorite segment of our show, Pals of Potter! Joining us tonight are three of Harry Potter's old friends. Please give a warm welcome to Rodent, Rooster, and Romeo!"_

Dumbledore's Army leaned in towards the radio, eager to learn who the new guests were.

" _Oi! We've discussed this, River! I never agreed on being called Rodent, I want to be called Rapier!"_

" _Shove a sock in it,_ Rodent, _no need to mope. I think the name suits you very well. And I think your girlfriend would agree, too."_

There was a moment of silence before the room suddenly burst into laughter, for the bickering was all-too-familiar for some of the older students. It was as if the owners of the voices had never left Hogwarts.

"The twins?" Asked Michael, looking to Ginny for the answer with a raised eyebrow.

"The twins." She confirmed, snickering as she and Neville made eye contact.

" _Shut up, Rooster. At least I'm not named after a bloody bird."_

" _Better than being named after vermin, you numpty."_

" _I_ said _I wanted to be called Rapier! Y'know? Like a sword?"_

"Which one is which?" Andrew Kirke asked, screwing his eyes shut as he tried distinguishing between the two voices.

"Fred is Rodent, obviously."

"Nah, I think George is Rodent."

"You're daft, it's obviously Fred."

"It's Fred." Ginny decided after listening to the twins bicker on the radio for a few moments longer. "He's always been the whiny one.

" _Pipe down you lot,"_ a new voice scolded, causing the twins to fall silent. " _We're on a fairly tight schedule, you know."_

Lavender and Parvati gasped in unison and looked at each other with excited grins. "Oliver Wood!"

"How the hell did you know that?" Seamus scoffed, staring suspiciously up at them from his spot on the floor.

"Oh, not this again," Padma groaned, shooting Lavender and her sister a warning glance.

"We were both in love with him in the third year," Parvati interrupted her twin excitedly, clasping Lavender's hand tightly in her own.

"Who wasn't?" Emilia Insley muttered, rubbing the back of her head.

"I'd recognize that voice anywhere." Lavender sighed, twirling a blonde curl around her finger. Mick McManus looked up at her comment and scowled slightly.

" _Sorry Romeooooo,"_ the twins drawled on the radio, making rather unattractive smacking noises that were supposed to sound like kisses.

" _Just start the damn segment,"_ Oliver moaned and Ginny could picture him facepalming at that moment as Fred and George leered at him from either side.

" _Have it your way, Romeo. Harry Potter has become quite the slippery bugger, hasn't he, Rooster?"_

" _Indubitably, Rodent."_

" _RAPIER!"_

" _Oi, pipe down! By now, dear listeners, you've all heard the news about Harry Potter's successful break-in at the Ministry eight short weeks ago."_

" _Heard he stole that gaudy necklace right off of Umbridge's thick neck,"_ Fred chortled.

" _Indeed he did. He came, he saw, he stole, and then he vanished. People may have forgotten about this but we at Potterwatch certainly haven't. So where is our Chosen One now? Care to comment, Romeo?"_

" _The truth is, Potter could be anywhere right now,_ " Oliver said as the twins fell silent. " _He's a smart one, that Potter. Some of our sources have claimed to have sighted him and his companions around London in mid-September. He hasn't been sighted since, but that doesn't mean he's been static."_

" _That's right!"_ Fred chimed in, and Ginny could hear Oliver grumbling about being interrupted in the background. " _Our hero, Mister Potter, is probably in the midst of planning the assassination of Baldymort as we speak!"_

" _I don't know about taking down the Ministry,"_ Lee chuckled as Bill chided Fred in the background. Tonks, who had been caught off-guard by Fred's nickname, sounded as if she was choking on water. " _Then again, if anyone could do it, it would be Potter._ _Thank you, Romeo, Rapier, and Rooster! We will certainly be hearing from you again."_

" _A pleasure,"_ Oliver said as the twins launched into a musical rendition of the poem Ginny wrote for Harry in her first year. She scowled down at the radio as she recognized the lyrics. Demelza and Emilia, who were the co-writers of said poem, snickered to themselves.

" _And finally we would like to remind you that just ten days ago marked the 16th anniversary of the death of Lily and James Potter,"_ came Lee's suddenly serious voice. The giggles died down immediately. Ginny looked down at her feet, immediately forgetting her embarrassment. Beside her, Luna put a light hand on her shoulder. The excited bustle from the DA had dimmed slightly at the news and people bowed their heads in respect.

" _The Potters died so their son could live, some truly heroic actions. Harry Potter is our hero, our beacon of light, and the head of our rebellion. Without his parents' bravery, he wouldn't be here today. And we're truly grateful he is. And with that, this episode of Potterwatch has come to a close. We hope you'll tune in to our next episode which is scheduled for the same time in two weeks, the password is Lily. Stay safe and long live Harry Potter!"_ The members of Pottermore called out their separate goodbyes and then the radio went silent.

The room was silent as people stared at the radio in wonder. Suddenly, Ritchie Coote began to clap. The sixth years joined him, then the fifth years. Soon, the entire room was thundering with applause as people whooped and cheered for the broadcast.

"How'd you figure this out?" Ginny asked, eyes shining as people chattered excitedly around her.

"Jack's cousin works at the Wizarding Wireless Network station in Hogsmeade." Anthony smiled, patting Jack on the shoulder as the two of them pushed themselves up off the ground.

"The only decent bloke who works there, trust me. Sent me a letter about it, giving us the new password for this episode. Cool, huh?" Jack responded, chest puffing up in pride.

"Awesome!" Jimmy Peakes cheered excitedly.

"Those older Gryffindors sure are geniuses," Padma shook her head fondly.

"It sounds like it's a scheduled show," Ernie cut in, nodding at the radio. "And we have the password for next week."

"That really was brilliant," Neville beamed as he came to stand in between Ginny and Luna.

Ginny sighed in content. Hearing her brothers' voices had been a pleasant, unexpected shock. Letters from her family had been scarce and bland due to the Ministry's watch over the Weasley family as well as the Hogwarts system of searching through students' mail. Her thoughts suddenly drifted to Harry. Harry, who she had tried and failed to block from her mind. She had nearly forgotten about his escapade at the Ministry until the twins had brought it up on Potterwatch. She faltered as she recalled what Fred had said, Harry had stolen Umbridge's necklace. That was a detail that the Prophet had tactfully left out of the editorial. Why had he taken it? Was it part of his mission?

As Ginny thought about Harry's raid, a thought suddenly crossed her mind. A thought that made her exhale a quick gasp, causing her friends to look at her questioningly. A thought that turned into an idea. An idea that involved the Sword of Gryffindor.


	16. Compact

"I can't believe he gave me detention!" Lavender fumed as she, Neville, Michael, and Terry made their way to the Charms classroom Thursday morning. Neville gently pulled her by her book bag strap before she could walk down the wrong hallway, for she was so furious that she hadn't even noticed she was about to go the wrong way.

"Well you _did_ throw your compact at the back of Goyle's head," Michael provided unhelpfully, dodging as Lavender flicked a mound of curls over her shoulder in his direction.

"And it _did_ end up hitting Carrow in the face," Terry chimed in. Neville snickered slightly as he replayed the event that transpired five minutes prior. Goyle, who had been standing on the other side of the hall from them, wolf-whistled when Lavender had bent over to pick up the lipgloss she had dropped. In a blind rage, she had chucked her mirror at him with such force that would've had alumni Oliver Wood begging her to join the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Unfortunately, it was Carrow who had received the object to the face, not Goyle. So of course Lavender had been yelled at and given detention. And once Carrow had moved on with a huff, she hit a laughing Goyle with a Conjunctivitis curse, as perfectly well-aimed as the was mirror. Which was around the time that Neville, Terry, and Michael had finally decided to intervene and drag her away.

Lavender's face contorted into a distressed expression as the frown melted off her face. "And then it fell on the floor and broke, bloody hell." She pulled the small, purple compact out of her bag and peered down at the broken mirror worriedly. "You know what this means, don't you?"

Neville, assuming that the answer she was looking for probably had something to do with Divination, looked towards the Ravenclaws for a hint in hopes that they had more knowledge in the subject than he did. Terry shrugged helplessly and Michael unhelpfully mouthed, _makeup?_ "Um, no?"

"It means I'll have seven years of bad luck," she sighed, gazing at her reflection through the cracked mirror. "I got my hands on a book about muggle superstitions this summer and a broken mirror equals bad luck. I've avoided mirrors for three months now, you know."

"Can't you just fix it with magic?" Michael asked, squinting at the mirror nestled in the palm of her hand.

Lavender shook her head before snapping the mirror shut and shoving it into her pocket. "That's not how luck works, unfortunately. I'd better go talk to Trelawney about this later, she'll know what to do. Oh, do you think this means that Mick is going to dump me?" Her light brown cheeks began to turn red as she worriedly mulled the possibility over in her head. "I mean, we're not even dating but he could still dump me!"

"I doubt that will happen," Michael said hastily as the other boys cautiously eyed Lavender as if she were a ticking time bomb.

"Hey, Gin," Neville called out thankfully and waved at the redhead who had appeared from the mouth of a different hallway at the perfect time.

The arrival of Ginny temporarily distracted Lavender from her worries. "Ginny!" She greeted the younger girl in a chipper voice, her misery completely forgotten. Terry and Michael let out simultaneous sighs of relief.

"Talk later, mates," Ginny muttered as she breezed past, looking intently at a piece of parchment clutched in her hand. She suddenly turned around and made her way back to the group, who had stopped to look at her questioningly. "Actually, I need Terry." She looped her arm through the blonde's and pulled him along with her in the other direction.

"Um, what?" Terry asked confusedly, nearly tripping over his feet as he attempted to keep up with her quick pace.

"I'll explain on the way," Ginny promised absent-mindedly.

"But I have Charms right now," Terry protested, looking back over his shoulder in the direction of the Charms classroom.

"You can afford to miss one class, Boot. Live a little!" She exclaimed, tightening her grip on his arm. Terry gave a confused wave to his friends right before he and Ginny disappeared around a corner.

"Should I be concerned that Weasley just captured my best mate?" Michael asked the equally bewildered Gryffindors.

"No," Neville said at the same time Lavender muttered, "Maybe."

"Brilliant," Michael sighed, his brow quirked in confusion as he rubbed the back of his head.

Lavender looked back and forth between Neville and the hallway that Ginny had disappeared down, a suspicious look on her pretty face. "What are you two planning? She had that one look in her eye."

"The Weasley Glint," Michael confirmed with a nod. "I've seen it before."

"We aren't planning anything!" Neville held up his hands in defense. "At least nothing I know about." As he began to think about it, Ginny had been acting strangely after the Pottermore broadcast the previous night. One minute the two of them and Luna had been talking and then suddenly she was marching out of the Room of Requirement, declaring that she needed to visit the Library. He had barely seen her that morning either.

"Strange," Michael said with a shake of his head, gesturing for them to continue their trek to Flitwick's class. "I have a feeling we'll find out soon enough."

"I agree," Neville muttered, a nervous feeling growing in the pit of his stomach as he briefly wondered what Ginny was up to. He shook the feeling off, for he had only just promised Ginny that he would trust her and her instincts more.

"Oh well! Come on, you lot, let's go," Lavender chirped, pulling Michael and Neville along behind her. Despite its oddness, their brief encounter with Ginny seemed to have been the perfect distraction for Lavender as she practically skipped into Flitwhick's classroom, Michael and Neville stumbling after her. Unfortunately, her jauntiness was short-lived.

"You'll pay for that, Brown." Goyle's scowling face was the first thing the trio encountered inside the sunny classroom. His eyes were red, twitching, and nearly swollen shut from Lavender's curse. Hunched over next to him at the desk, Millicent Bulstrode clumsily flipped through a textbook as she attempted to search for the countercurse.

Lavender's nostrils flared but she merely held her head high and walked past him to find her seat. Neville and Michael followed after her and shot Goyle warning looks, daring him to say anything more. The Slytherin sat back in his seat and held up his hands in surrender but his eyes never left the back of Lavender's curly head.

* * *

"Alright, then, you two are all set," Neville said with a proud smile later that night in the Gryffindor Common Room. Nigel Wolpert and Stewart Ackerly, who had just completed their Unbreakable Vow, beamed back at him as he set down his wand on the coffee table and leaned back against the crimson couch.

"I feel more…powerful," Nigel said in wonder, waving his arms around as if there was a new force surging through his muscles. He grinned down at his hands.

Stewart rolled his eyes as he ran his fingers through his short, coarse hair. "That's not a side effect of an Unbreakable Vow, dummy."

"It could be!" Nigel retorted defensively, his pale cheeks turning a light shade of pink as he quickly dropped his arms to his side.

"Go on, you two," Neville interrupted their bickering with a chuckle. "Finish that game of Gobstones you started, it sounded like an exciting one. Stewart, Terry was kind enough to stretch your curfew to ten, did you bring Anthony's invisibility cloak along with you?"

"Yessir!"

"Good. I'll walk you back when you're ready."

"Thanks, Neville!" Their little spat completely forgotten, the two fourth years waved goodbye and bounded up the stairs towards Nigel's dormitory.

Neville watched them go fondly before turning his attention towards the watch nestled on his left wrist. He frowned down at the watch, for it was a quarter past nine and he hadn't seen Ginny since their odd run-in in which she had captured Terry and disappeared without a trace. Luna had strangely also been missing throughout the day. A handful of other DA members were absent at dinner as well and Neville briefly wondered if he should pay the Room of Requirement a late-night visit.

A noise at the portrait hole suddenly interrupted his thoughts. Lavender stumbled into the Common Room, clutching her robes tightly around her body. Neville immediately knew that there was something wrong. Her eyes were darting around nervously, her clothes were crooked, and her blonde corkscrew curls were askew. Her normally warm brown skin was pale and ashy as if the life had been sucked right out of her. He briefly wondered if she had been with Mick McManus, the Hufflepuff that had recently caught her attention, which would explain the state of her clothes and hair. But then he realized that she couldn't have been with Mick, for she was in detention that night.

Detention with Carrow.

"Lavender?" Neville asked, alarmed at her state. Lavender opened and closed her mouth but nothing came out. "What's wrong?"

"Sally-Anne should be coming by, would you mind letting her in?" Lavender's voice came out raw and gravelly.

"Of course." Neville, still flabbergasted, managed to nod. She blinked away tears and scurried up the staircase. The sound of her footsteps disappeared when the door to the seventh year girls' dorm slammed shut.

Neville cursed himself for not sitting her down and forcing her to tell him what had happened, for something was very obviously wrong. He had decided not to pry; if Lavender had wanted to talk to him, she would've. But was he being a good friend for letting her slip away? He considered sending Seamus up the staircase to consult her since the two of them were as thick as thieves. But Seamus often added more chaos to a situation than harmony, so he decided against it. And Parvati was upstairs already, she would know what Lavender needed.

"I have a new objective for the DA," Ginny made presence known with her loud greeting as she swept into the Common Room and sat down beside Neville, a twinkle in her eye.

"Hello to you too," Neville said, still distracted by Lavender running off. "An objective, you say?"

Ginny took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, we need to steal the Sword of Gryffindor."

Neville tore his eyes away from the staircase and turned to gawk at her. "Say what?"


	17. Parseltongue Part 1

"So tell me the objective one more time?"

"Stealing the Sword of Gryffindor from Snape's office."

"And why are we doing this again?"

"Because we need it," Ginny said simply as she and Neville walked past the Divination classroom's ladder the next day. "Or more specifically, Harry needs it."

"What do you mean?" Neville asked, still not following her train of thought.

"Think about it, Nev. Remember Dumbledore's will I told you about? How he left Harry the sword but the Minister wouldn't give it to him?"

"Yeah?" Neville hummed, still not quite following as he tapped his fingers against the sides of his legs.

Ginny sighed, trying to remain patient even though her mind was racing a mile per minute. "Dumbledore left Harry with a mission to complete and the items in his will are supposed to help him. The sword was left to Harry but Scrimgeour wouldn't give it to him because it's a Hogwarts artifact, so it's here in the castle instead of where it should be with Harry."

"And?"

" _And_ the Potterwatch broadcast last night reminded me of it. Harry's on a quest, he wouldn't have taken that necklace from Umbridge if he didn't have a solid reason for doing so. It might be a stretch but I think it's one of the things that Dumbledore told him to find."

"A scavenger hunt?" Neville's eyebrows shot up towards his hairline. "So Harry, Ron, and Hermione are skipping seventh year for a _scavenger hunt?_ "

Ginny slapped his chest. "Think bigger, Neville! Think _scavenger hunt that will win the war_!"

"Okay, okay, But why does he need the sword for this _scavenger hunt that will win the war_?"

"I still don't quite know for sure," Ginny admitted, ignoring Neville's small snort. "But I do have a theory. I did a good amount of research on the sword and apparently, its elements allow it to absorb the power of things that make it stronger. It's probably one of the most powerful weapons in the whole world! Who doesn't need something like that on their side?"

"Hang on," Neville said suddenly, scrunching up his face. "Doesn't the Sword of Gryffindor present itself to a worthy Gryffindor? That's what happened in the Chamber of Secrets five years ago, right?" Ginny hissed at the mention of the Chamber and he shot her an apologetic glance. "So why can't Harry just stick it out and wait for the sword to show up?"

"Wait for it to show up?" Ginny let out a short laugh, tossing him a look of antipathy. "Alright then, Nev, let's just sit back and let the sword go to Harry. Let fate do its job. We don't have much to lose, after all, only the future of the Wizarding World." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well when you put it that way," Neville grumbled, shaking his head.

Ginny smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, that was just such a Ron type of question. I haven't been able to bully him in months, I had to let it out. But we can't rely on the _possibility_ of the sword presenting itself. Harry needs that sword now and we're going to get it to him. Got it?"

"I guess," Neville huffed slightly, mulling her words over in his head. "But _why_ does he need this bloody sword? Sure it's powerful and all but he's not gonna go around stabbing people, is he?"

Ginny chuckled at the thought of a wild-eyed Harry wielding a sword around. "In one of my many sessions spying on Harry, Ron, and Hermione this summer, they mentioned how Dumbledore destroyed a ring with the Sword of Gryffindor. And I think that the ring had some connection to You-Know-Who."

"So he needs the sword to destroy that necklace," Neville said as he finally pieced things together. He then scowled at her. "Alright, _now_ you're making some sense, why didn't you say it sooner? I'm totally on board."

"That's the spirit!" Ginny cheered, ignoring Neville's grumbling about how she could've saved a lot of time by getting to the point sooner. "Luna and I think we should go tonight, the sooner the better. We've already enlisted some help: Milo and Jack have been stealing ingredients for Terry and Mick, who are brewing a Sonata Sleeping Potion to knock out the Carrows, Snape, and the Slytherins. That way we'll be able to get into the office without any real trouble."

"How are you going to slip them the potion?" Neville wondered aloud.

"We're leaving that up to Terry and Mick to figure out, they're the masters. Marcus and Etta are working with them as well, I don't quite know what they have planned. Ritchie and Demelza are supposed to be spying on the Slytherins to figure out their patrol route for tonight and Emilia's learning what the whereabouts of Snape and the Carrows will be tonight."

"So I'm basically the last person you've come to with this plan?" Neville complained as he mentally counted the number of people Ginny had involved before coming to him.

" _You_ ," Ginny poked his chest, "ask too many questions. I simply told people that we were stealing the Sword of Gryffindor and they were on board, no questions were necessary. Well, except for the Ravenclaws, but that's inevitable." She suddenly squinted at Neville suspiciously. "Why aren't you telling me that this is a horrible idea to drug our professors and classmates?"

He held up his hands. "Hey, I promised to trust your instincts more so consider me doing that now and you've got a solid plan going right now. You lead, I follow."

Ginny grinned and rubbed her hands together. "That's music to my ears."

"Anything you want me to do in preparation for the mission?" Neville asked with a newfound eagerness, all his previous apprehension gone. "I want in."

"Not yet," she said somewhat sympathetically, causing him to stick out his bottom lip in a pout. "But I promise I'll let you know if anything comes up. Oh, this one's me." She stopped in front of the Transfiguration classroom and turned around to bid Neville farewell. "Thanks for the support, Longbottom, you're a peach." She flicked him on the nose affectionately before walking into the classroom.

"Oi! Find me a job, will you?" She heard him call out from the hallway.

* * *

Later in the day, Ginny was greeted with a, "Hey, Ginny?" as she left the Herbology greenhouse with Demelza and Emilia. She turned around at the sound of her name to see who had greeted her. A handsome boy with glossy curls and dark brown skin was walking towards her, fidgeting with the strap of his book bag.

"Hey, Mick, what's up?" She asked the Hufflepuff jauntily, in an especially good mood due to the fact that she currently had a free period. He gave her a close-lipped smile, his eyes darting towards the other Gryffindor girls. Ginny got the hint. "Mel, Mil, I'll catch you two later." Her friends bid her farewell in perfect unison and linked arms with each other as they trotted off towards the Great Hall. "Where are you headed to?"

"Ancient Runes," came the answer.

"I'll walk you there," Ginny tossed her head in the direction of the staircase and they began to walk. "Is this about the potion?

Mick McManus, one of the best potion brewers in the DA bobbed his head up and down. "Yeah, we've got a bit of a problem. My stash of basilisk fang powder has run out and it's the last ingredient we need. Terry checked too and he doesn't have any."

Ginny's brows furrowed and she chewed her lip. "Shoot, that is a problem. Did you check the ingredient cupboard in the potions classroom?"

He nodded as they began to climb the staircase. "Yeah, all out."

"Well, what about Slughorn's private collection? Anthony could lend us his cloak and-"

"I brought up basilisk fang powder to Slughorn in class today," Mick interrupted her. "He said that it was a rare ingredient that he wished he could get his hands on. Apparently there's a shortage of it in apothecaries across the UK."

"Damn!" Ginny cursed, grabbing the banister as the staircase they were on swung to the left, connecting with a new hallway. "Is there another potion we could brew with the same effect? What about the Dreamless Sleep Potion? Or just a regular Sleeping Draught?" They got off the staircase and turned down the hall that led to the Ancient Runes classroom.

"Unfortunately no," Mick shook his head. "Terry and I searched through our textbooks and couldn't find a good alternative that will have the same effect. It would take an enormous batch of regular Sleeping Draught and the Dreamless Sleep Potion only causes drowsiness and good dreams, not a deep sleep like you're looking for it to do. The Draught of Living Death takes days to brew and has risky side effects." They had finally come to a stop outside of Professor Babbling's classroom.

"It's okay, we'll figure it out. Thanks for telling me, Mick." Ginny nodded at the Hufflepuff but he only continued to stand and stare at her, making no move to enter the classroom. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Uh, is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

Mick shoved his hands deep into his robe pockets and ducked his head bashfully. "I was just wondering if you had seen Lavender around today? We've been meeting up after meals a lot recently and walking to classes together-" He stopped suddenly and chuckled nervously. "-and you probably don't give a damn about all that mushy stuff, sorry. Point is, I haven't seen Lavender today and was getting a little worried."

Ginny opened her mouth to respond but stopped as she felt her pocket suddenly heat up. She pulled out her coin to see a private message sent by Neville: _found me a job yet?_ She rolled her eyes slightly, for Neville was acting more and more like Ron by the hour. First his stupid comment about the Sword of Gryffindor and then mentioning the Chamber of Sec-oh.

"The Chamber," Ginny muttered under her breath, gazing down at the coin. Of course that's where they would find a basilisk fang, in the Chamber of Secrets. How ironic that their last ingredient was hiding right under their noses in the most hidden part of the school. The part of the school that Ginny still had nightmares about, she still refused to walk past the girls' bathroom on the second floor. She looked down at the coin and suddenly realized that she knew exactly what job to give Neville. Cursing under her breath, she pocketed the coin and looked back up at Mick. "Sorry, did you say something?" She asked, rubbing her forehead absent-mindedly.

"I was just asking if you wanted me and Terry to get rid of the potion?" Mick asked quickly. He had moved on from the subject of Lavender but he still looked embarrassed that he had even been asking about her.

"No!" She yelped, causing him to jump. "Sorry, it's just that I found a way to get you your last ingredient."

"Really?" Embarrassment was suddenly replaced with curiosity. "How?"

"I'll tell you later, come to the Room of Requirement the second you're done with classes, okay?"

Mick bobbed his head up and down enthusiastically. "Yeah, sure!" He peered down at his watch and made a face. "I'd better go in there," he said, tossing his head towards the classroom door.

"Go," Ginny said as she shooed him inside. "Oh, and Mick?" The Hufflepuff turned around. "I'll try to find and talk to Lavender, okay?" He blushed and nodded before ducking inside the room.

Ginny closed the classroom door behind him and immediately spun on her heels. She breezed down the corridor with a fast pace as she rapidly typed a message out to Neville: _where r u?_ She practically tumbled down the staircase as she attempted to remember Neville's schedule, what class had he just had? She squeezed her eyes shut as she rifled through her memory before finally deciding that he had been in Potions with Slughorn.

By happy coincidence, she ran into him and Ernie on a staircase that led down to the dungeons. "Whoa!" Ernie gasped, nearly falling backward as a breathless Ginny suddenly appeared in front of them. Ginny grabbed him by the tie and Neville held his shoulder as they rightened him back up into a standing position.

"Just the chap I was looking for!" Ginny beamed at Neville, still panting. He looked at her curiously. "I found a job for you, do you accept it?"

"Really?" Neville's eyes went wide and he grinned back. "Brilliant, yes! What is it?"

"Getafangfromthechamberofsecrets." Neville and Ernie blinked at her dumbly as the words spilled out of her mouth in one long, jumbled phrase.

"Come again?" Ernie asked, scratching his head.

"We need a Basilisk fang from the Chamber of Secrets," Ginny said more slowly. "And I've decided to assign this very important task to you. The fate of this entire mission rests on your shoulders, Longbottom. Good luck!" She raised a hand in farewell and turned to bolt back up the stairs. Neville and Ernie looked at each other and each grabbed one of her wrists, preventing her from escaping.

"You want me to go to the Chamber of Secrets?" Neville practically yelped as he turned her around by her shoulders so that she was facing them again.

Ginny winced slightly and nodded feebly. "Um, yes?"

"She's gone mental," Ernie concluded, staring at Ginny as if she had just sprouted a second head.

"Have not, Macmillan!" Ginny immediately protested before turning back to Neville. "A basilisk fang is the last ingredient of the sleeping draught, the plan will fail without it. Trust me, I'd go do it myself if I could but-"

"No need to explain," Neville said firmly. She let out a relieved sigh and nodded, for he knew how much the Chamber still scared her. "Do we really need that fang?"

"Yes," Ginny said, nodding promptly. "I lead, you follow, remember?"

"Oh I remember," Neville said with a sigh. "We'll do it, only I don't exactly know how to. Don't you need to be able to talk to snakes like Harry can to open the Chamber?"

"Actually," Ernie interrupted and the others turned to look at him. His eyes were bright and they could practically see the gears turning in his head. "I think I know exactly how we're going to do it."

* * *

"You want _me_ to _open_ it?" Sally-Anne Perks asked in horror, her blue eyes as round as saucers. After bidding Ginny farewell and tracking down the other Hufflepuff, Ernie had steered her and Neville into a private alcove near the Charms classroom entrance.

"Come on, Sal," Ernie coaxed, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was eavesdropping. He then lowered his voice. "You know you can do it."

"Being able to do something is much different than _wanting_ to do it," she reminded him bluntly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Neville looked back and forth between the two Hufflepuffs with a dumbstruck look on his face. "Sorry, am I missing something?"

"Don't say a word, Macmillan," Sally-Anne growled, shoving her index finger against Ernie's lips before he could speak. She looked back at Neville and sighed. "Promise you won't freak out, Longbottom?"

"Sure, yeah, I promise," Neville nodded dumbly, although he wasn't exactly sure what he was promising.

Sally-Anne took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "I'm a Parselmouth," she muttered, glaring down at her shoes.

Neville's eyes bugged out. "WHAT-" He was silenced as Ernie and Sally-Anne each slapped a hand over his mouth.

"I hate sharing that little fun fact," she grumbled, glaring around Neville at a sheepish Ernie. "I kept it a secret for a long time, especially with this one being such an arsehole to Harry Potter about his ability in second year," she nodded at Ernie, who ducked his head and blushed. "What did you say being a Parselmouth meant, Ern? Oh yeah, it meant that you were a dark wizard. You remember that, don't you?"

"That was a long time ago," Ernie protested meekly. "I was worried about Justin."

"Yeah, yeah," Sally-Anne waved her hand dismissively as the two of them finally let go of Neville.

"B-but how?" Neville stuttered as he wiped at his mouth. He looked at Sally-Anne with newfound fear. "You're a Hufflepuff, not a Slytherin."

"Blame the abundance of Slytherins on my Dad's side of the family." Sally-Anne crossed her arms over her chest.

"A Hufflepuff who can speak Parseltongue," Neville marveled, trying to make sense of the whole thing.

"Pretty crazy, huh?" Ernie bobbed his head then looked away as Sally-Anne sent a glare in his direction. "So what do you say, Sal? We'd be ever so grateful if you helped us out here. I might even write that History of Magic essay you've been complaining about for days now."

Sally-Anne eyed him quizzically. "All twenty-two inches of it?"

"Done."

"Okay," Sally-Anne said after mulling the offer over in her head. She gave him a prompt nod, "I'll do it. But only if you never speak of this to anyone and Lavender comes with me."

Neville hesitated slightly at the mention of the Gryffindor girl. "Are you sure that's the best idea?" Lavender had been acting like a ghost-version of herself all day, and it was really beginning to worry him.

"She needs a distraction right now," Sally-Anne said shortly and Neville knew that there would be no negotiating with the blonde. "Plus she's my house partner. If you get to bring yours then I get to bring mine."

"Fair enough," Neville caved and nodded. It seemed as though Lavender had talked to Sally-Anne last night and if Sally-Anne thought it was a good idea then he was sold. "Go find Lavender and meet us outside the girl's lavatory on the second floor. And make it quick."

"Don't tell me what to do," Sally-Anne responded automatically, but she heaved her book bag over her shoulder and trudged off to find Lavender.

Neville turned to Ernie, who was looking rather nervous. "Well, are you ready to see the inside of a girl's bathroom for the first time?"


	18. Parseltongue Part 2

"Why are _you two_ here?" Sally-Anne blurted out as she and Lavender peeked their heads through the bathroom door twenty minutes later. She stepped into the room and apprehensively eyed Terry and Seamus, who were leaning against the peeling green cubicle doors.

Terry snorted slightly as he pushed himself off the door and stood in the center of the bathroom, staring back at her. "Wow, what a greeting, Perks."

"Don't ask us, ask Neville," Seamus tossed his chin in the direction of Neville, who was sitting on one of the sinks next to Ernie. "He captured us on our way to the she-Carrow's class and told us we had a mission to complete. Not that I'm complaining or anything, I hate that bloody class." He then turned to Neville. "Why _are_ we here, mate?"

"Sally-Anne mentioned something about the Chamber of Secrets?" Lavender supplied quietly, flinching as all eyes suddenly landed on her. Neville's face drooped slightly as he looked at her. She had cleaned up from the previous night but there was definitely still something wrong. The way that she held herself was all wrong and _so_ not-Lavender of her.

"We need a basilisk fang for the sleeping potion," Ernie explained as Neville finally tore his eyes off of Lavender.

"Sleeping potion for what?" Lavender pressed and Ernie, who actually hadn't been told what the full mission was, faltered slightly.

"To steal the Sword of Gryffindor," Neville and Terry said in unison, jumping in to help Ernie.

Lavender and Sally-Anne blinked owlishly at them while Seamus and Ernie's mouths fell open. "Um, what?"

"Harry needs it and we're going to steal it for him, yada yada, we'll explain more later. Can we get this over with?" Neville asked, shifting nervously from foot to foot. It hadn't really hit him until that moment that they were really going down into the _Chamber of Secrets._

"Sal?" Ernie looked at her expectantly. He and Neville jumped off the sink and quickly moved out of the way as Sally-Anne stepped forward.

"Ginny said it's the center sink you have to talk to," Neville supplied. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Seamus and Terry exchange confused glances.

Sally-Anne took a deep breath and began to speak in a foreign tongue nearly identical to the language of Harry's little speech in dueling club all those years ago. She hissed as she spoke and Neville couldn't help but shudder slightly. Seamus and Terry recoiled at the sound but based on Lavender's expression, she had already been told about Sally-Anne's…abilities. Neville briefly wondered what their talk last night had consisted of, for Ginny had told him only a week ago that the pair greatly disliked each other.

Whatever Sally-Anne had said was effective, for the sink was already undergoing a startling transformation. She jumped back as the top of the structure slowly levitated into the air and the individual sinks moved away in all directions. The six of them slowly backed away as the structure in front of them rearranged until there was a large round pipe surrounded by grates that plunged deep into the floor.

"Whoa," Seamus breathed out as he took in the transfigurated bathroom with wide eyes.

"Way to go!" Ernie cheered, slapping Sally-Anne on the back with one of his rather large hands. She glared up at him and muttered, _ouch._

"You're a Parseltongue?" Terry squawked, gawking at the Hufflepuff. "But how is that possible?"

"No, I was speaking French," Sally-Anne retorted, causing Terry's shocked expression to melt into a scowl.

"Is that really the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets?" Seamus stuttered out in an uncharacteristically timid way.

"Seems like it," Ernie gulped slightly.

Neville noticed Lavender peering down the entrance with apprehension and immediately stepped in. "We need somebody to keep watch and make sure nobody comes in while we're down there. And to keep Moaning Myrtle from asking too many questions. Lavender, would you mind?"

Lavender looked positively relieved at the request. "Sure, no problem."

"Great," Neville nodded enthusiastically. "Let's get one more person to stay with you, then. What about you, Sally-Anne? Care to stay up here in the Land of Light?"

"Well I opened the damn thing, didn't I?" Sally-Anne huffed, gesturing towards the transformed sink. "Might as well see what all the excitement is about."

"People have almost died down there," Terry reminded her as he crossed his arms. "I wouldn't really call that _excitement_ , unless you're into that kind of stuff."

"I hate smartasses, you know," Sally-Anne said with distaste as she eyed him.

"That's rich coming from you," Terry immediately shot back. "From what I've heard, at least."

"He's got you there, Sal," Lavender said with a faint chuckle. Neville beamed, realizing it was the first time she had smiled all day.

"I don't like smartasses because I'm the superior smartass," Sally-Anne said, glaring at Terry.

"I think I might be able to give you a run for your money," Terry smirked. "I've been told by Snape on multiple occasions that I'm _incorrigible._ "

"Why do I feel like this is the start of a beautiful friendship?" Seamus leaned up to mutter into Neville's ear as he eyed the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

"More like a beautiful rivalry," Neville whispered back.

"After you," Terry grandly gestured towards the entrance as he stared at Sally-Anne. "Since you were the one who opened it, after all."

"No, you first, I insist." Sally-Anne's voice was full of venom but her smile was sickly sweet as she gestured for him to jump down the entrance.

"Please, lead the way."

"Bloody hell, I'll go first!" Ernie grumbled, pushing past the pair. "Just please stop arguing!"

"I'll stand guard with Lav," Seamus volunteered, and Neville could tell that he was also very clearly worried about Lavender as he walked over to stand by her side.

"Looks like it's the four of us going in, then. Ernie? Care to start us off?" Neville said as he watched Seamus study Lavender's blank expression. He turned his gaze to the Hufflepuff, who gulped slightly.

"All right then," Ernie said in a high-pitched voice, staring down into the dark opening. "Yeah, sure. Down into the dark, scary, chamber…"

"Just do it, Macmillan!" Sally-Anne groaned, tapping her foot impatiently.

Ernie turned to Neville. "And you're certain there isn't a monster down there anymore?"

"Not one that's alive," Neville repeated Ginny's words, not only to reassure Ernie but also himself.

"That's good enough," Sally-Anne said, shoving Ernie forward without warning. He tripped over his feet and went tumbling down the hole. She winced slightly. "Oops, promise I didn't mean to do that." She was met with unconvinced expressions and raised eyebrows.

"Sally-Anneeeeeeee!" Ernie's scream grew quieter and quieter as he slid deeper and deeper into the underground chamber. A muffled _oof!_ indicated that he had finally reached the end. "I'm okay, come down!"

Bidding goodbye to Lavender and Seamus, Terry, Sally-Anne, and finally Neville leaped over the grates and into the darkness. Neville gasped as his back hit the cold metal and he began to slide down the pipe with rapid acceleration. He bit his tongue to keep from screaming as the air around him whizzed by. And suddenly he came tumbling out of the mouth of the tunnel and into a pile of ivory objects.

Neville realized with a start that they were bones and immediately jumped to his feet and looked around. Nearby, he found Ernie hopping from foot to foot in an odd sort of dance, Terry on his hands and knees looking intently down at the bones, and Sally-Anne dusting off her robes.

"I wonder what kinds of animals these are from?" Terry wondered aloud as he inspected a small skeleton that must've once belonged to a rodent of sorts.

"Who cares? This is so gross," Ernie whined, quickly stepping up onto the tunnel they had come from so he was no longer standing on the bones.

"But it's fascinating to think about what this creature had to feast on for centuries to keep it sustained. Basilisks produce other valuable potion ingredients, you know, not just fangs. The scale of a basilisk can- _mmph_!" Terry's little Ravenclaw rant was cut off suddenly as Sally-Anne kicked him in the elbow, sending him sprawling face-first into a particularly large pile of skeletons.

"Are you really a Hufflepuff?" Neville asked her skeptically as Terry picked himself up off the ground, moaning about all the germs.

Sally-Anne gave a little curtsy. "I'm an anomaly. Now can we get going already?"

"Why? Are you scared?" Terry taunted, glaring at her as he rubbed at his face with his sleeve until it was red.

"No!" Sally-Anne haughtily tossed her blonde curls over her shoulder. "But I bet you are."

"They are actual children. Is it too late to trade one of them out for Seamus?" Ernie asked Neville under his breath, jumping down to stand by his side.

"Afraid so," Neville sighed, also beginning to regret their choice of team members. "Sally-Anne is right, though, we are on a tight schedule here."

"So which way do we go?" Ernie asked as he spun around in a slow circle, observing all the different passageways around the small, bone-filled space.

"We could split up?" Neville proposed, also eyeing their surroundings. "That way we'll be able to cover more ground quicker."

"But didn't we bring Terry along so he could properly identify the basilisk fang?" Ernie protested. "We shouldn't split up, in that case."

Sally-Anne's lit up and she slapped Terry on the back. "Ah! So you _do_ have a purpose of some sort, Boot. Nothing compared to the importance of mine, however."

"Charming, Perks," Terry sneered. "But anyway, there's no need to split up. _Point me!_ " A burst of blue light flew out of his long wand and shot down a tunnel to Neville's left.

"Alright, well done Terry," Neville complimented, causing Sally-Anne to frown. "We don't have much time to waste, let's go."

After another round of bickering, Sally-Anne was chosen to lead the way (so that she "could talk to any snakes we encounter and convince them not to eat us," as Ernie had so eloquently stated). Their four wands combined managed to light up the dark chamber as they filed single-file down the tunnel.

"Is that the basilisk?" Ernie suddenly squawked, recoiling and hiding behind Sally-Anne as the four of them made their way into a new section of the chamber just as dark and damp as the last one. Sure enough, there appeared to be a limp, motionless snake of over forty feet long spread out across the room. "Sally-Anne, talk to it!"

"It's just dead skin," Terry reassured him. He poked the object with the end of his wand. "Basilisks, like snakes, shed a portion of their skin every couple of months."

Sally-Anne knelt down to brush aside some rubble and plucked a small object nestled between two boulders. "This must've belonged to Lockhart," she muttered to herself as she held her wand up to inspect the mother-of-pearl brooch. "Meggie used to love him." She slipped the pin into her pocket.

"If Lockhart was here then so was Harry. That must mean we're going in the right direction," Neville supplied, earning nods from the rest of the group.

With Sally-Anne in the lead, they wove around the giant snakeskin and through another passageway that led to a great, round door adorned with little metal snakes.

"Salazar Slytherin had good taste," Sally-Anne commented, nodding towards the snake door. She took in the nervous faces around her and rolled her eyes. "Oh, honestly! You three need to lighten up, I was only joking!" She composed herself and hissed out a quick line of Parseltongue. Nobody was even surprised as the snake decorations rearranged themselves, allowing the door to swing open.

"Oh," Ernie gasped as the four of them peered out the door and into the heart of the Chamber of Secrets. There was about a seven-foot drop that led to an elaborate marble walkway surrounded by water on both sides. Horrifying snake figurines with flicked out stone tongues donned the bleak walls. At the end of the path, a man's stone face frozen in a scream covered the entire back wall. The whole room sent shivers down Neville's spine, not to mention the giant basilisk skeleton splayed out across the dark marble.

"Thinking about moving down here, are you, Perks?" Terry's snide voice suddenly broke the silence. "I mean you thought the door was nice but get a load of this."

"Funny," Sally-Anne's laugh dripped with sarcasm. "Why are you here again, Boot? Oh yeah, to identify the basilisk fangs. But how will you ever do it?" She then looked pointedly down at the basilisk carcass. "Oh wait, that's the only snake skeleton with teeth here in the chamber. Hmm, guess your job won't be quite as hard as we thought now, will it?"

"Well if you don't need me then why don't you go get it yourself, then?" Terry shot back, moving away so she had access to the ladder.

"As if!" Sally-Anne crossed her arms and turned away from the door.

Ernie was looking at Neville with nervous eyes. "Looks like I'm going, then," Neville sighed. He gripped the sides of the ladder and climbed down the couple of rungs, landing on his feet on the marble walkway.

He was surprised when Ernie clamored down a couple of seconds later and stood at his side. "I wasn't going to let you go down here alone," his friend chuckled nervously. "We are supposed to take an Unbreakable Vow soon, you know."

Neville had to admit that he was touched by the fact that Ernie was willing to go with him even though the Hufflepuff was visibly shaking due to the Chamber's eeriness. As they walked across the marble, Neville swore that a strong breeze was moving the water despite there being no draft in the large room. The two of them cautiously approached the glowing white skeleton of the monster that had terrorized the school their second year.

"It really is a basilisk skeleton," Ernie swallowed loudly as he stared up into the white jaws of the basilisk.

Neville, wanting to be out of the Chamber of Secrets as soon as possible, stepped forward and pulled the arm of his sweater up over his palm. He reached into the mouth of the beast and grabbed one of the pearly fangs, twisting with all his strength until it came loose. A gust of air blew through the chamber and ruffled his hair, followed by a cool stillness. No snakes appeared, no ghosts shouted at him, he was all right. He breathed a sigh and turned around. "Got it," he said with a satisfied grin. Ernie stared at him as if he had just single-handedly killed Voldemort.

"Oi, Boot, it's your time to shine! Identify it for them!" Sally-Anne's high-pitched voice rang out across the chamber as she hung off the ladder.

"Shut up," Terry rolled his eyes and then groaned, "Neville!" in a betrayed voice as Neville cheekily held up the fang above his head for the Ravenclaw to look at. "Bloody hell, yes it's a basilisk fang!"

"Brilliant," Ernie chuckled, patting Neville on the shoulder. "We've got the Boot seal of approval, now let's get out of this hellhole."


	19. Sword

Terry and Mick knelt in the center of a small crowd that had gathered in the Room of Requirement, hovering over a cauldron. The crowd held their breaths as Terry carefully poured the contents of the cauldron into an apple-sized jar that Mick was holding. A small stream of purple liquid came out, barely filling a couple inches of the jar. The two boys stood up, looking pleased as Mick screwed the lid on and proudly held it up for everybody to see. The other DA members stared blankly at the container and the room fell silent.

"That's it?" Seamus finally asked, voicing the thoughts of the rest of the room.

Terry's smile dropped and he scowled at the Gryffindor. His eyes scanned the apprehensive faces around him and his frown deepened. "I feel highly underappreciated, don't you, Mick?"

"Very much so, Terry," Mick responded and the two of them crossed their arms over their chests defensively.

"It's not that we don't appreciate all your hard work," Ginny hastily began, cocking her head to the side in confusion as other people began to hurriedly mutter amongst themselves. "It's just…that's a tiny amount of potion. Are you sure it'll be enough?"

"Let's give them the benefit of the doubt," Michael objected while Ernie and Neville nodded, and Ginny couldn't help but think that pair were acting like newlyweds since they returned from the Chamber of Secrets with grins on their faces and their Unbreakable Vow finally completed.

Apparently Sally-Anne was thinking the same thing as Michael. "You mean we went into the _Chamber of Secrets_ for _that_?" She growled as she glowered at the jar. "I'm actually going to murder you, Boot!" She rolled up her sleeves, getting ready to pummel Terry, but Megan held her back. Despite both of the witches being relatively petite, Megan was stronger so Sally-Anne was unsuccessful.

"Hang on, it's not completely finished yet!" Terry yelped, jumping behind Mick.

"For maximum effect, we chose a special type of sleeping potion," Mick explained as everybody relaxed slightly. "A Sonata Sleeping Potion differs from your regular Sleeping Draught because of its small yet powerful quantity. If you keep it hot enough, it'll emit a gas that has the same immediate effects a Sleeping Draught does. That way you don't need to worry about slipping it into the Slytherins' food. It's more time-sensitive too, seeing as they'll be the only ones out in the halls after nine o'clock. "

"We'll gas them so they can't trace it back to us," Ginny said in wonder as her eyes lit up, finally catching on. "Brilliant work, boys. And what did you two find out about the Slytherin patrols for tonight?" She asked, turning to Demelza and Ritchie.

"They're going to be everywhere," Ritchie admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Mel and I overheard some sixth year in the Library today, apparently the Carrows have upped the patrols because of all the chaos this past week."

"We think that just on the safe side, we should cover most of the floors," Demelza added.

"Wait a second," Parvati suddenly interrupted, her voice laced with skepticism. "How are we going to spread the gas all over the school? We can't very well release it in the vents, then everyone would get knocked out."

"Marcus and I charmed some vials with a heating spell," Etta McKinnon chimed in as she stepped forward. "It'll keep the Sonata Sleeping Potion hot enough to continue producing gas even in an enclosed container. Just smash it in whatever hall you're and it'll break, releasing the gas. It'll stay in the hallway but won't spread to, say, a common room."

Ginny gave her a nod of approval and continued on with the plan. "Since Mel and Ritchie think that there'll be Slytherins everywhere, we'll _also_ need to be everywhere with those vials of the potion. Ritchie and Anthony, you'll be in the basement, watching over the Slytherin Common Room entrance. Warn the rest of us if anyone leaves. Marcus, Oliver, you two will be stationed on the ground floor. Etta, Aggie, Emilia, and Morag will be on the first floor. You four have a special job, I'll get to that in a bit. Lavender and Sally-Anne, you're on the second floor. Terry and Seamus, third floor. Hannah and Demelza, fourth floor. Su and Susan, fifth floor. Milo and Mick, sixth floor. Do as Etta says, if you see any Slytherins, smash the glass and release the gas. Come to think of it, we'll need someone by the Room of Requirement on the seventh floor to keep watch so I'll assign Padma and Lydia to that. And we'll need to keep an eye on Filch, so that job goes to Wayne and Andrew. Parvati, Megan, and Ernie are going to patrol the staircases and will be on-call for anyone who needs any extra assistance. Neville will keep watch of Snape's office door while Luna, and I get the sword." Ginny finished decidedly.

"And the Carrows and Snape? What about them?" Wayne Hopkins spoke up.

"The Carrows invited Snape to join them for tea in Alecto's office tonight at quarter past nine," Emilia Insley quickly said when Ginny looked to her for an answer.

"Good job, Mil. You, Etta, Aggie, and Morag will carry out the plan of spiking Snape and the Carrows' evening tea." Ginny hesitated slightly as she looked at Aggie Burton, who was Etta's partner and only a fifth year. But the sweet-faced Hufflepuff looked determined as she nodded enthusiastically, prompting Ginny to continue. "Etta and Aggie, you two are going to sneak down to the kitchens with Anthony's cloak and spike the teapot before the house elf brings it upstairs. Once you've completed that task, go up to the first floor and find the second empty classroom to your right. There you'll give the cloak to Emilia and Morag, who will slip into Alecto's office and make sure the three of them drink the tea and fall asleep. Once they're knocked out, send a message on your coin to the rest of us so we know when to strike."

"And what'll we do to protect ourselves from the effects of the gas?" Susan put her hands on her hips.

"Ah! And that's where I come in," Luna hummed in a cheerful voice, rummaging around in her pocket before pulling out what appeared to be a small piece of pink plastic. She set it across the bridge of her nose and tapped it with her wand. Immediately a pale pink bubble burst from the plastic and covered her mouth and nose. "Daddy and I use these Bubble Barriers when we're weeding our Dirigible Plum bushes, they release quite a foul odor," she said, her voice sounding echoey inside the bubble. "These should work quite nicely for our purposes, I believe Etta and I managed to whip up enough for everybody to use."

"Good thinking, Luna!" Ginny beamed. "I honestly think this just might work out."

"Wait just a second, what about us?" Michael gestured to himself and Jack, clearly appalled that their names hadn't come up in the conversation.

Ginny smirked at him. "Thought I forgot about you, did you? No, you two have a very important assignment, have you got your brooms on hand?"

"Yes?" Michael said suspiciously.

"I'm sure that some of the Slytherins will manage to escape the gas. Therefore, you two will be flying around with dungbombs and as many of my brothers' products as your book bags can hold."

Jack's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You mean like an aerial attack?"

"Yes," Ginny nodded and he stared at her so intensely that she began to fidget. "What?" She asked with a scowl.

"Are you sure you want to wait for Potter? Because I think I've just fallen in love with you. Run away with me, Weasley," Jack said, clasping his hands over his heart.

"Only in your dreams, Sloper," Ginny snorted, reaching down to ruffle up his hair.

"Oi, not the hair! I take it back, our plan to elope is canceled!"

"Pity," Ginny sighed.

"And what about the rest of us?" Romilda demanded, hands on her hips. Sure enough, the remaining fifth years and all of the fourth years looked slightly crestfallen at the fact that their names had not been mentioned during Ginny and Luna's elaborate plan.

"You can either stay in the Room of Requirement or go back to your dorms," Ginny said simply. "This mission is for sixth years and up, sorry."

"No fair!" Romilda gasped, her jaw dropping open. "Then why is Andrew going? And Lydia? And Aggie?"

"Because they're paired up with older, more qualified students," Ginny said firmly. "Don't argue with me, Romilda, it's already been decided." Out the corner of her eye, she noticed Savannah staring at her with big, pleading brown eyes. "Don't even think about it Baby Spinnet. Now, does anyone have any questions?"

"That's a complicated plan," Su Li began apprehensively.

"With plenty of room for error," Anthony added, shuffling from foot to foot.

"It is," Ginny gave a curt nod. "So? Are you in?" She grinned as she was met with determined nods.

* * *

It was nine-thirty and things were already going wrong. Inside the Room of Requirement with some of the younger students, Megan, Ginny, Neville, Ernie, Luna, and Parvati, all felt their galleons heat up. They scrambled to retrieve their coins but it was Parvati who got to hers first. " _Snape not here -MM,"_ she read Morag's message aloud to the group. Her pretty face crumpled into a frown. "He's not in Alecto's office? That's not good, not good at all."

"Does that mean he's in his office? Because that could ruin everything," Ernie swore under his breath.

"No, no, no!" Ginny fretted, running a hand through her long hair.

Romilda, who was lounging on a nearby rug with Magdalene, Savannah, and Maxine O'Flaherty, rolled over on her stomach to look at the group. "You know I always could-"

"Romilda," Parvati and Ginny said in unison, giving her warning glances. She rolled her eyes but left the conversation alone and turned her attention back to her friends. Jimmy Peakes and Joel Cresswell, who had also jumped to attention, slouched away to return to their game of Exploding Snap.

Luna typed out a message that they all suddenly received. Neville glanced down at his coin and read, _MC and JS, search castle for Snape._ He looked up and met her eyes. "They've got their brooms, they'll be able to cover more ground," she explained.

"Do we still risk it, then?" Parvati asked as she ran her fingers nervously up and down the dark wood of her wand.

"It's now or never," Ginny nodded her head. "We can't wait even a single extra day."

"Then let's go," Megan spoke up suddenly, surprising everyone with her determined voice. "For all we know, Snape is away on business outside of Hogwarts. We've got nearly twenty people on backup, this is going to work."

"I think I've been rubbing off on you Meggie, that's the spirit!" Ginny beamed at her house partner, who returned the smile. "Now let's go get that sword!" She was met with cheers and grumbles that came from Romilda's general direction.

While her friends prepared to leave, Ginny made her way to the Room of Requirement's door and stuck her head out into the hallway. "How's it looking out here, Padma?" She called out to the Ravenclaw, who was stationed ten feet to the left of the door, in a loud whisper. Looking the other way down the hall, she waved to Lydia Cooden, who returned the gesture.

"All clear up here," Padma said with a nod. "Sounds like Milo and Mick ran into some Slytherins a floor down so I'd be careful."

"Good to know, thanks," Ginny gave her an appreciative smile. She looked down at her coin and saw a message from Emilia that gave her more confidence. _Carrows asleep - EI._ She turned back so she was looking into the Room of Requirement once again. Neville, Luna, Parvati, Ernie, and Megan stood staring back at her, each with a different colored bubble covering their nose. "Alright, you lot, let's get going."

In a single-file line, the six of them exited the Room of Requirement and beelined towards the staircase heading downstairs. Like Padma had warned Ginny, an array of shouts came floating up the staircase from the sixth floor. They would have stopped by to help if it had been necessary but Milo Erickson's unmistakable cackle indicated that it was the Slytherins who were the ones in need of the help. So the group continued on, sinking lower into crouching positions as they maneuvered down the staircase.

Ginny, at the front of the group, held up a hand and stopped abruptly. The rest of them nearly crashed into her, grumbling slightly. She silently pointed at a figure up ahead who had stumbled out of a hallway and onto the staircase, breathing heavily. He hadn't seen them yet and the emerald lining of his robes told them exactly who he was. The rogue Slytherin was hit from behind by Megan's curse, causing him to let out a surprised yelp as his eyes swelled up. He rubbed furiously at them as he spun around, unable to see anything. The six of them easily slipped past him unnoticed as he called out, "Who's there?"

As they snuck further down the staircase, a high-pitched scream came from one of the hallways, and Megan and Ernie immediately tensed. "That sounded like Hannah. She might be in trouble." Neville froze on his step and looked back at them with wide eyes. Ernie looked slightly confused at Neville's fearful expression but Megan's face slackened in understanding. "We'll go see if she's alright then meet up with you on the third floor," she promised the group, speaking mostly to Neville. Neville barely had time to respond before the pair took a sharp left turn and sprinted down the entrance of a hallway from where the scream had come from.

"Let's keep going," Ginny urged the remaining four. Parvati and Luna trudged after her and Neville glanced one last time towards the hall before bringing up the rear.

Several other floors had commotions coming from them as they made their way down to the Headmaster's office on the third floor. As the staircase began to shift, Ginny directed them off the one trembling below their feet and onto another one that immediately swung to their left and connected to a hallway. They leaped off the staircase and hung in the doorway, listening quietly. From down the hall, they could hear several voices shouting in the distance, causing Parvati and Luna to freeze.

"Snape's office is just a little way more down the hall, let's go," Ginny muttered as the voices grew fainter. They tiptoed past several closed-door rooms before suddenly finding themselves staring up at a massive, stone gargoyle.

"What's the password?" Ginny hissed as she inspected the gargoyle's wings that were blocking the spiral staircase.

"Well this is Snape's office so perhaps it would be something relating to potions?" Luna suggested helpfully, tapping her chin. "If I were him, I would choose a new ingredient each week, just to switch it up."

"You're the best at potions out of all of us, Parvati, any ideas?"

Parvati looked surprised at the fact she had been asked before shaking it off and tapping her chin. "Hmm, let's see. Crushed moonstone? Scarab beetles? Asphodel?"

"It's not working," Ginny cursed, staring at the unmoving gargoyle. "Quick, Neville! List out some plants that are used as potions ingredients."

"Nettles," Neville immediately began, "Wiggentree bark, daffodil roots, sage, lilypad-" he stopped as the gargoyle suddenly sprang to life and leaped aside.

"Lilypad?" Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Of all things he chose _lilypad_?"

"How mysterious," Parvati hummed.

"Who cares? You two better get up there, the sooner the better," Neville said somewhat nervously as his eyes darted around, surveying their surroundings.

Parvati caught Luna and Ginny by the sleeves of their cloaks as they made their way towards the staircase. "Get out of there if you see Snape," she said sternly. "Your safety is more important than some silly sword."

Ginny opened her mouth to object but was nudged by Luna. She simply nodded at Parvati and began to climb up the spiral staircase, Luna right on their heels.

"You don't suppose Snape's in there waiting for them, do you?" Parvati asked Neville, her eyebrows knit together in concern as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared apprehensively at the gargoyle.

"No," Neville said after a second of hesitation. "At least I hope not." He heard no screams or sounds of struggle and his heart skipped a beat. "It sounds alright up there."

"But not out here," Parvati gulped as she and Neville froze at the sound of several unknown voices echoing down a hallway to their right.

"I'll be back in a minute, make sure nobody gets in." Neville brandished his wand and trudged away before Parvati could protest.

He pressed himself to the wall as he slowly inched down the dark hall, careful to make no noise. He held his wand out in front of him and rounded a corner, heading right towards the source of the noise. He sighed in relief when he saw who it was and lowered his wand. "This wasn't part of the plan, was it?"

Sally-Anne and Terry stopped bickering long enough to look down at him. They were frozen to the wall, their bodies encased in ice so that only their heads popped out. "We ran into a little bit of a problem as you can see," Terry said sheepishly.

"This idiot tried convincing some fifth-year Slytherins that he was Anthony Goldstein, the seventh year Ravenclaw prefect," Sally-Anne scowled, her cheeks flushed red in anger.

"Oi! I almost had them convinced," Terry immediately protested, his teeth chattering slightly.

"Goldstein is half Chinese!"

"Well they probably didn't know that!"

"Why are you two even here together? Aren't you supposed to be with Lavender and Seamus?" Neville inquired, his head already throbbing at the sound of them arguing.

"Lavender and I got separated so I came up a floor and ran into Boot and Finnegan, yay me. Finnegan freaked out that Lav was missing so he ran off with the sleeping gas and I got stuck here with Boot. Then those pesky Slytherins came along and now here we are," Sally-Anne finished in a deadpanned voice.

"So you didn't stick to the plan," Neville surmised, bobbing his head up and down.

"Get us down!" She screeched, furiously wiggling around in the ice.

"Hmm, I dunno." Neville tapped his wand to his chin and smirked slightly. "Maybe this is just what you two need, intimate bonding time."

If possible, Sally-Anne turned a deeper shade of red. "Aren't you supposed to be guarding a door or something? Those Slytherin prefects could be heading over there right now."

Neville's smile dropped and his thoughts drifted to Luna, Ginny, and Parvati. " Right you are, Sally-Anne. _Incendio!_ " He pointed his wand at the floor below them and a short wall of fire ignited below the ice casing. "Gotta blast, give a holler if you haven't melted in fifteen minutes," he called over his shoulder as he raced down the hall he had come from. He could hear their protests but ignored them as he silently prayed nothing bad had happened.

Neville got back to the gargoyle right in time to see Parvati running off in the opposite direction, hot on the tail of a Slytherin prefect he didn't know. He called out to her but she was too far away to hear him. She and the Slytherin disappeared into the darkness ahead.

Reassuring himself that Parvati was perfectly capable of handling herself, Neville stationed himself directly in front of the gargoyle. He stared at it for what seemed like hours, waiting anxiously for Luna and Ginny to come tumbling down the spiral staircase.

"And what do you think you're doing?" An all-too-familiar voice suddenly droned in his ear.

Without turning around, Neville choked out, "Good evening, Headmaster."


	20. Detention

**Thanks to my loyal readers for sticking with this story, I appreciate it and hope you keep on reading. Happy holidays everyone!**

* * *

"There are worse people to get stuck doin' detention with, eh?" Hagrid asked cheerily as he led Neville, Luna, and Ginny into the Forbidden Forest. His large lantern swung back and forth in his hand, creating abnormal patterns of light splayed across the dark trees. Neville gave him a half-hearted nod as he wrapped his cloak tightly around his body, silently wishing he had brought his hat and scarf along. The late November wind nipped at his face teasingly.

"Yes," Luna bobbed her head and smiled up at him in the darkness. "I quite enjoy your presence, Hagrid, I would've come along, detention or not." Hagrid looked touched and patted her on the shoulder, sending her sprawling forward and onto the dirty forest floor bed.

Neville easily pulled Luna up by her underarms and glanced at Ginny, who was silent and fuming as she stomped ten feet ahead of them. Despite striking out with luck regarding their detention, she had clearly expressed that she was furious that their plan had failed. Neville's mind drifted to the moment they had been caught, the look on her face as she and Luna clutched the sword, the glass case it had been kept in shattered in the background. While Luna's face had conveyed an emotion somewhere between surprise and fear, Ginny's showed raw anger.

"Why the long face, eh, Ginny?" Hagrid called ahead to the ginger, gesturing for the others to pick up the pace so they could catch up with her. It was much to everyone's surprise that Snape had given the trio detention with Hagrid rather than torturing them with a much harsher punishment. Parvati, Marcus, Sally-Anne, Hannah, Terry, Michael, Oliver, and Su, who had been caught and rounded up by the awake Slytherins while the sword was being stolen, were forced to do lines with the Carrows, who had unfortunately awoken from the sleeping gas. "Yer with me now, you can relax."

"Which we're ever so glad about," Neville added hurriedly, not wanting Ginny's foul mood to reflect badly on him and Luna. It was true, too. Though he never set foot in the Forbidden Forest if he could help it, Neville would take detention with Hagrid over the Carrows any day.

"I was, however, quite surprised that the Headmaster assigned us with you," Luna told Hagrid as they hurried to catch up to Ginny. "Especially after Ginny started yelling at him for being a traitor. I don't suppose the comment about George's missing ear helped, either."

"I s'pose not," Hagrid chuckled softly before shouting, "Oi, Ginny, stop here." Once the redhead had stopped, he threw a glance over his shoulder, as if checking that nobody was following them, and pulled a tankard and four mugs out of his pockets. "I wasn't really gon' make you lot wrestle Erklings like Snape was expectin', let's sit."

"Thank God," Neville muttered, for he had never been particularly fond of magical creatures. Ginny raised her eyebrows at Hagrid and Luna, who had been rather looking forward to the prospect of seeing different creatures of the Forbidden Forest, let out a small sigh of disappointment. Hagrid guided the trio over to a large, flat rock and gestured for them to sit down. Luna conjured up a small fire for them as Hagrid sloppily poured steaming butterbeer into the mugs and passed them out.

"To justice for missing appendages," Hagrid cheered as he held his mug up towards the moon. Ginny hesitated for a second before finally smiling and mirroring the gesture, causing Neville and Luna to beam and do the same.

"How have you been, Hagrid?" Ginny asked as she wrapped both hands around her steaming mug after taking a generous sip. "Sorry we haven't been able to visit, the new rules are-"

"No need to explain yerselves," Hagrid said firmly, holding up a large hand. "Those rules are endless and the way they've been enforcing them? It's disgustin'."

"You can say that again," Neville sighed, staring down into his cup. "The Carrows are criminals."

"Dumbledore never would've tolerated their practices," Hagrid sniffled as his eyes welled with tears at the thought of the former Headmaster. Luna produced a lavender handkerchief from her pocket and gave it to the gamekeeper, who dabbed at his eyes with the cloth that looked tiny against his face. "These are hard times, even here at Hogwarts, which I'm sure you three know better'n I do."

"It's all Snape's fault," Ginny muttered stiffly. "Things would be different if he hadn't murdered the best Headmaster Hogwarts has ever seen."

"Things would still be dark, even if Dumbledore were still 'ere," Hagrid said mildly, rolling the handkerchief into a ball in one of his hands. "Powerful and kind wizard Albus Dumbledore was but even he couldn't stop this war."

"He wouldn't encourage us to accept defeat like others are, though," Neville insisted.

Hagrid chuckled slightly as he looked down at the trio. "I don't think you three would accept defeat even if it was shoved down yer throats. And it seems like you've been provin' just that."

"Ah, so you've heard about the revivement of the DA." Luna leaned back against a knotted tree.

"There's been talk amongst the teachers." Hagrid nodded. "I've heard many things about the 'more rebellious students'. Graffiti all over the walls? Organizin' a prohibited Quidditch match? The return of Weasley products? Now that Harry, Ron, and Hermione are gone, I knew it had to be another troublesome trio. I suppose congratulations are in order."

"Congratulations for what?" Neville asked confusedly.

Hagrid shrugged, sloshing butterbeer in his beard. "Ye've scared 'em. I don't know about Snape, but those Carrows know yer a force ter be reckoned with. But yer gonna need ter be careful."

"We aren't afraid of their punishments," Ginny said boldly, though Neville noticed that she had gone pale in the firelight, no doubt reliving the Cruciatus Curse in her mind.

"It's not only that," Hagrid shook his head. "They know of yer friendship with Harry, sooner or later they'll be interrogatin' you for information."

"You don't really think that, do you?" Neville scoffed, warily eyeing the gamekeeper.

"I do. Death Eaters are everywhere now, in the Ministry, at Hogwarts, patrollin' the streets and keepin' tabs on people. Especially people allied with Harry. There's a reason all yer families are being watched."

"Even mine?" Luna asked curiously, fingering a crimped strand of pale blonde hair.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Hagrid said honestly. "From what I've heard, the Quibbler has been one of Harry's most active supporters." Luna smiled proudly at that statement. "Plus you and yer dad were at Bill n' Fleur's wedding, I'm sure you were sighted by the intruders."

"Speaking of families, have you heard any news from the Order?" Ginny interrupted, leaning forward eagerly.

"Not much," came Hagrid's brusque answer. "The Carrows n' Snape are so suspicious of me that I'm surprised I haven't been fired. The Order knows it would be too risky to give me any information with the three of 'em out for my blood. It's why I've been layin' low recently, I don't want ter start any trouble."

"Is that why you aren't teaching this year?" Luna asked morosely, staring up at Hagrid with big eyes.

"Aye, it is," Hagrid sighed forlornly, and the sad tone of his voice made Neville's heart ache slightly. "It's fer the best, though. But here's what I do know from the Order," he began after noticing Luna, Ginny, and Neville's sad expressions, causing them to perk up slightly. "Yer family has been very actively involved in the Order's safehouse networks, Ginny. Yer parents have been stayin' under the radar, fer good reason too, but yer brothers are transporting whole families from house to house."

"The Pottermore broadcasts have been mentioning the safehouse network," Neville said with a nod as Ginny practically glowed with pride. He hesitated slightly before asking, "Have you been spying on Snape for the Order?"

"I offered but Moody, may he rest in peace, thought it best that I don't risk it. Maybe if I were stayin' in the castle but I have little excuse to go up ter the school except for meals." Hagrid winced slightly and then said, "I also might've mentioned ter Molly 'n Arthur about the detentions and punishments those Carrows make you do."

"Great," Ginny groaned, rubbing the side of her face. "That'll be a fun holiday discussion."

"Your parents deserve to know," Luna calmly objected to Ginny's sarcastic tone. "Hogwarts is so isolated from the rest of the Wizarding World that little know about the injustice we've been facing."

"I know, but that won't prevent them from locking me in my bedroom until the war is over. In fact, don't expect to see me back in January."

"You're being dramatic," Neville rolled his eyes, though his heart sank at the thought of Ginny not returning. "I have no idea what Gran will do when she finds out."

"Yer families _should_ be mad over this treatment of students, I know I sure am." Hagrid suddenly looked down at his watch that had a patchwork band. "It's gettin' late, I should send ye back ter the castle. Don't look at me like that," he said firmly at their sullen expressions. "You've got a whole nother week and a half of detention with me ter look forward to."

Hagrid instructed them to muss up their appearances to make it look like they had had a rough time in the forest. Neville smeared dirt onto his face as Ginny carefully ruffled up Luna's hair and decorated it with twigs and leaves while the blonde fiddled with the ginger's robes. "How do we look?" Luna asked cheerfully as the three of them stared up at Hagrid expectantly.

"Perfect," the gamekeeper beamed as he stuffed the mugs into his jacket. "Now let's get you three back." He herded them out of the forest, perking up at the sound of Fang's howls as his cabin came into sight.

"This was probably the best detention I've ever had," Ginny announced as they hurried up the stone steps single-file. Her friends, out of breath from the hill, nodded enthusiastically.

"Yer just sayin' that,'' Hagrid scoffed, but his eyes crinkled at the compliment. "Now remember, you three had a rough time wrestlin' some particularly nasty Erklings in the forest," he reminded them as he led them to a side door of the castle and pulled out his large ring of keys. He selected a rusty black one and unlocked the door, before shooing them inside. "See you tomorrow night," he said with a wink as he swung the door shut.

"Do you really think they'll soon be interrogating us about Harry?" Neville asked as they took one of the back staircases up to the first floor.

"It's possible," Luna shrugged with a sigh.

"Why don't you ask them yourself?" Ginny hissed as she nodded down a dimly lit hallway. The two Carrows glared at the trio as they peered out into the hall from Alecto's classroom doorway. The corners of their mouths turned up slightly at the disheveled appearances and they smirked as the door slowly swung shut.

"Bunch of gits," Ginny sneered at the closed door. "Smiling at our misfortune. Good thing it's not really misfortune. Now come one, let's get back to the dormitories, I'm exhausted."

They crept down the hall, careful to be quiet as not to alert Filch of their whereabouts. Hushed voices suddenly drifted down the hall, causing them to tense and look at each other fearfully. Neville threw his head in the direction of the way they had come from to indicate that they should turn but Ginny shook her head and grabbed his and Luna's hands, pulling them forward. They held their breaths as the voices grew louder and suddenly found eight of their friends hidden in an alcove, whispering furiously amongst each other. The group jumped at the sound of approaching footsteps but sighed in relief when they saw that it was only Luna, Neville, and Ginny.

"Don't scare us like that!" Parvati huffed, slapping Ginny on the arm as her fearful expression melted off her face.

"My bad," Ginny replied with a small smirk. "Wotcher folks, fancy seeing you lot here." She watched in amusement as the group unclenched their fists and began to relax, laughing in relief.

"Bloody hell, we thought you were the Carrows coming back for more," Sally-Anne gasped, the color slowly returning to her pale cheeks.

"Or some Slytherins," Michael added, his tensed shoulders dropping. "Bet you anything they're plotting their revenge right now."

"Luckily, no. How'd your detention go?" Neville asked the group, though his gaze lingered solely on Hannah. "They didn't make you write too many lines, did they?"

Parvati, Oliver, and Michael exchanged wary glances with one another as Marcus, Terry, and Su suddenly became very interested with the floor. It was finally Hannah who broke the silence, twisting her fingers nervously as she spoke. "We were expecting lines but apparently that's not what they had planned for us."

Ginny's eyebrows shot up. "What?"

"Well," Su Li cleared her throat awkwardly. "They thought it would be more…educational if we were to, um, p-practice spells on one another." Neville raised an eyebrow at her garbled words, for Su was often perfectly eloquent with everything she said.

"Spells?" Luna's eyes got wide and she looked at Terry, who sighed and nodded. For the first time Amycus gave a hands-on detention, Seamus had wound up with an injured ankle.

"But Snape promised lines," Neville gasped, outraged with the falsehood of the Headmaster's order.

" _What the Headmaster doesn't know won't hurt him,_ " Michael repeated the words of the Carrows in a low voice. Ginny, Luna, and Neville shot each other knowing glances, clearly remembering that Umbridge had said nearly the same thing as she was preparing to use a Cruciatus Curse on Harry two years prior.

"What did they do to you?" Neville growled as he took in their appearances, inspecting for any signs of injury. Sure enough, Oliver Rivers looked as if he was leaning heavily against a pillar, favoring his left leg. Su and Parvati were tugging at their sleeves to hide the bruises around their wrists. Sally-Anne bore several scratches on her neck. Marcus had a vacant look on his face and Michael's robes had been torn around the collar as if he had been dragged around by it.

"Just the Imperius Curse," Terry said in an attempted nonchalant voice. "It really wasn't too bad, I swear. They just roughed us up a bit-"

"No kidding! Alright there, Oliver?" Ginny looked at the Hufflepuff questioningly.

"I've been better," Oliver grinned weakly, only to wince as he attempted to put weight on his foot. He hopped back into his one-legged stance, leaning back on the pillar once again.

"They tried Imperiusing us into telling them about Harry Potter," Marcus shivered, gratefully accepting the pale blue cardigan Luna offered him. "Too bad it didn't work, you can't force someone to tell you the truth under the Imperius Curse because their mind is under your control and not their own. You'd think the _Defense Against the Dark Arts_ professor would know that, what a nitwit."

"Besides," Michael snorted, running a hand through his messy, dark hair. "None of us know where Potter actually is, not even you three."

"Right," Neville laughed weakly, fully aware of the dismayed looks that Ginny and Luna were shooting him. Their worst fears had just been confirmed, the Carrows were looking for information on Harry. And although said information was sparse, the two Death Eaters would torture every last DA member if they thought it would help their cause.

"It was okay though," Hannah changed the subject as she attempted to smile. "Better than going into the Forbidden Forest. I mean, I would take detention with Hagrid over the Carrows any day but the forest is terrifying. It wasn't too bad, was it?"

"You look like you took a tumble down a hill," Sally-Anne commented, running her fingers along her neck delicately. "Rough."

Neville suddenly felt incredibly guilty, for the three of them had had a lovely picnic with Hagrid while their friends had suffered a less severe form of torture but still torture all the same. Judging by Ginny and Luna's expressions, they were feeling a similar kind of shame. He gave a weak shrug in response, the knot in his stomach preventing him from speaking.

"I think it's best if we go back to our dorms and patch ourselves up," Su broke the abrupt silence, her eyes trained on a clock visible from a classroom's open doorway.

"I agree," Hannah's forced-chipper voice immediately piped up as others mumbled in agreement. Goodbyes were said as the Hufflepuffs made their way to the basement while the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws found a staircase leading up to the various towers. Luna bid Ginny and Neville a shaky farewell as she and her housemates separated from the Gryffindors and drifted Westward towards their tower.

Parvati led the way to the portrait hole, obviously eager to be back in her own room. Ginny and Neville hung back slightly, putting more distance between themselves and their friend. "This is really bad," Ginny finally muttered once Parvati was far enough ahead of them.

"You can say that again." Neville rubbed his throbbing temples. "This is only the beginning, they'll only keep digging until they find what they're looking for."

"What do we do?" Ginny chewed her lip, for once at a loss for words.

Neville sighed as he watched Parvati pass by the Gryffindor Head of House office. "I think it's fine time we have another chat with McGonagall."


End file.
